Velvet Tree Pear
Opuntia tomentosa
NEMBA category
English: Velvet Tree Pear, Velvet Opuntia, Rose Opuntia
Misapplied or old scientific names: Opuntia hernandezii, Opuntia macdougaliana
Velvet tree pear ( Opuntia tomentosa ) is an erect shrub or small tree 1-8 m tall often with a well-developed trunk to over 40 cm diameter. The dull green stem segments (pads) are flattened, oblong to narrowly elliptic.
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Origins: Mexico and Guatemala
Overall Appearance: Succulent, branched shrub or tree 1 to 8 metres high, forming a sturdy trunk with age. The stem sections (cladodes) are flattened, dull green, with a velvety surface
Leaves: The "leaves" are actually flattened stems (cladodes) that are dull green, with a velvety surface, 15 to 35cm by 6 to 16cm. Spines are absent or in groups of 1 to 2, 3 to 25mm long, usually on young plants and absent from older cladodes. The true leaves are reduced to tiny cylindrical structures and are quickly shed from the developing cladodes.
Flowers: Bright orange flowers with reddish markings on undersides of outer petals are about 5cm across.
Fruit: The succulent berries are dull red or purplish red, 3 to 5cm long, shortly hairy and with tufts of glochids. The pulp is reddish.
Edible Parts: The fruits are edible when ripe and can be eaten fresh or cooked.
Poisonous Parts: The spines and glochids can cause irritation and pain if they penetrate the skin.
Invades: Roadsides, railways, pastures, grasslands, open woodlands, disturbed sites and waste areas.
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