North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Joe Boles" <jo.bo@rogers.com>]

Louisa:

Prickly pears do grow in Florida. I've picked them and eaten them from the
side of Highway 1 just north of Datona Beach while on holidays on several
occasions. They were only 1/3 the size of those that are sold in the super
market but the taste was more intense. The fruit was a deep purple color. I
have two different sepcies growing at my summer property; one is native to
that area (zone 3) very spiny; the other is quite a small species, pads are
only 1 inch long. The small species I transplanted from British Columbia
near Kelona. I've never had fruit on either of them.

Joe Boles
Mississauga, ON



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louisa Rogoff Thompson" <louisathompson@erols.com>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 12:37 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] prickly pear


> According to Gray's Manual of Botany, the most common species of prickly
> pear in the US, Opuntia humifusa, has a native range from Massachusetts
> west to Minnesota, south to South Carolina, upland Georgia, Alabama,
> Mississipi, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  Opuntia tortispina (which has
> twisted spines) grows from Colorado and New Mexico east to Wisconsin,
> Ohio, and northern Kentucky.  O. macrorhiza grows from Texas to Kansas
> and SW Missouri, and O. fragilis grows from Eastern Manitoba to British
> Columbia, south to Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, NW Texas, and Arizona.
>
> Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast by Gene M. Silberhorn lists
> Opuntia compressa (probably a variety of O. humifusa) as a common dune
> plant.  This species has "few or no spines, but its many tiny bristles
> (glochids) irritate the skin if handled."  He says the fruits are edible
> and are used for jam.  According to Herbaceous Plants of Maryland by
> Brown and Brown, they also grow on the dry, shaly soils of the
> ridge-and-valley region just east of the Appalachian plateau.
>
> It appears that prickly pears do not grow in Florida, probably not
> anywhere on the Gulf Coast.  All of the North American species I've
> found described, grow only on dry sands and rocky outcrops.
>
> In The Gourmet Gardener, E. Annie Proulx (who went on to become a
> novelist, author of The Shipping News), gives information on growing,
> harvesting, and cooking "nopal", which is the fruit of the southwestern
> prickly pear.  She recommends growing them for their ornamental value,
> as well, in a rock garden or in pots of very sandy soil.  She says seeds
> of a very cold-hardy type (collected in Nebraska) are available from J.
> L. Hudson Seeds.  That was the only source of seeds she could find, but
> you might search native plant nurseries.
>
> I've seen the pads for sale in Asian markets, but have never eaten them
> myself.  In the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Lee Allen
> Peterson says that the pads can be peeled and prepared like green beans,
> and the seeds can be ground to use as flour or a soup thickener.  She
> suggests removing the bristles with a damp cloth, while Annie Proulx
> recommends cutting them off with a sharp knife.  (Wearing sturdy gloves,
> in either case.)
>
> Brown and Brown describe the fruits as "edible but rather flavorless."
> This raises the question of whether fruit quality varies according to
> species (or within species), or according to growing conditions, e.g.,
> day length, length of growing season.
>
> I think it could be an excellent specialty product for sale to ethnic
> and gourmet markets, for people who happen to have the right growing
> conditions - which would be unproductive for other uses!  I'd love to
> try growing it myself and would join an interest group if there is one.
>
> Louisa Thompson
> (Louisa Gardener)
> Gettysburg, PA
>
>