Habitat: Dry rocky areas at lower elevations. They are typically a desert plant.
Edibility: Edible
Description:
This common cactus yields fresh edible petals and edible fruits. Be careful with the spines. The fruits or tunas should be removed of spines, sliced in half and seeds removed. The rest can be eaten.
They can then be eaten raw or used to make jams and jellies. The seeds can also be eaten if ground into a meal. The young petals can be eaten raw, or cooked. The stickers are not so easy to remove. You can find larger prickly pears, cut petals, full petals and jarred petals in latin markets in the produce sections and canned goods. They are used for salads and condiments for mexican dishes. Tacos, tostadas, huaraches and others with carne asada & nopales are worth a try. They have a slimy texture when cooked.
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