Opuntia aurantiaca
Tiger-pear
Family CactaceaeAlso called Jointed cactus, Jointed prickly pear
About
Tiger-pear is a low, jointed prickly-pear cactus from Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It has become an invasive weed in Africa and Australia.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Listed as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses, but spines and glochids cause injury. General guidance for the genus
- People
- Barbed glochids lodge in skin and irritate; wear gloves when handling. General guidance for the genus
- Light
- Full sun (6+ hours of direct sun); high light indoors. General guidance for the genus
- Water
- Very drought tolerant; avoid soggy soil, which causes root rot. General guidance for the genus
- Soil
- Well-drained sandy or loamy soil; cactus mix in pots. General guidance for the genus
- Propagation
- A single detached pad roots readily to form a new plant. General guidance for the genus
- Mature size
- Usually under 0.5 m tall; to 2 m with support.
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
Rarely more than 0.5 m tall, though up to 2 m with support. A plant may have 100 or more narrow segments 5–20 cm long and 1–3 cm wide.
Distribution & habitat
Native to Argentina (Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos), Uruguay and Paraguay; invasive in Africa and Australia.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay
- IUCN status
- Least concern
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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