Prickly Pear Buds

 Prickly Pear Cactus: Food of the Desert

While mostly thought of as a desert plant, the prickly pear actually ranges from Canada to the Southern regions of South America. Like most of the cactus here in the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona, the prickly pear bloom in the spring.  Both the pads (or nopal) and the fruit (or tunas ) are used in a variety of food products. 

In this small portfolio I would like to focus on the budding pads of the 2 different species of prickly pear found in our yard.