Opuntia dillenii | Dillen & Sweet Prickly Pear | Eltham Indian Fig | 10_Seeds

Description:

These seeds were collected from Opuntia dillenii, also known as Dillen prickly pear, Eltham Indian Fig, Pakan, and Sweet Prickly Pear. This cactus likes to live in full sun to partial shade where it can grow up to 10 feet high. The red, orange, yellow, and gold blossoms are out from early spring until the middle of the summer. The pads, flowers, and fruit are all edible and can be eaten raw, or cooked into jellies and jams. The fruits can be used to make wine, and the joints in the stems can be cut early after forming and these young pieces can be boiled and eaten as a vegetable. These young pieces of joint can also be dried in the sun and saved for future use. This plant is a larval host for the Arge Tiger, Cactus Moth, Dicymolomia opuntialis, Melitara subumbrella, and Dyotopasta yumaella Moths. It is also a food source for the Cestus Skipper butterfly. USDA Hardiness Zones 9b to 12.