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Opuntia ficus-indica
''Opuntia ficus-indica'' is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. It is thought to possibly be native to Mexico.〔 Some of the common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig opuntia, barbary fig, cactus pear, spineless cactus, and prickly pear, although this last name has also been applied to other less common ''Opuntia'' species. In Mexican Spanish, the plant is called ''nopal'', while the fruit is called ''tuna'', which are names also used in American English, especially as culinary terms.
==Growth==
Fig opuntia is grown primarily as a fruit crop, but also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Most culinary references to the "prickly pear" are referring to this species. The name "tuna" is also used for the fruit of this cactus, and for ''Opuntia'' in general; according to Alexander von Humboldt, it was a word of Hispaniola native origin taken into the Spanish language around 1500.〔''Baron F. H. A. von Humboldt's personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of America'' tr. 1852 by Ross, Thomasina: "The following are Haytian words, in their real form, which have passed into the Castilian language since the end of the 15th century... Tuna". Quoted in OED 2nd ed.〕
Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they efficiently convert water into biomass. ''O. ficus-indica'', as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico today. Because ''Opuntia'' species hybridize easily (much like oaks), the wild origin of ''O. ficus-indica'' is likely to have been in Mexico due to the fact that its close genetic relatives are found in central Mexico.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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