Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., Cactaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Cactus ficus-indica L., Opuntia gymnocarpa F. A. C. Weber, Opuntia maxima Mill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Barbary-fig, Indian-fig, Indian-fig prickly-pear, mission cactus, mission prickly-pear, prickly pear, prickly-pear, smooth mountain prickly-pear, smooth prickly-pear, spineless cactus, tuberous prickly-pear, tuna cactus

French: figuier d'Inde, figuier de Barbarie, raquette

Hawaiian: pānini, pāpipi

Spanish: chumba, chumbera, higuera, nopal de Castilla, nopal pelón, tuna, tuna de Castilla, tuna mansa

Habit:  cactus

Description:  "Trees 3-5 m tall, with a definite trunk; joints dull green or gray when fresh, broadly obovate, 25-60 cm long, 20-40 cm wide, margins more or less entire.  Areoles spineless or with 1-6 white or yellowish spines 1-3 cm long.  Flowers 6-7 cm long, 5-7 cm in diameter; outer perianth parts yellow with a green or reddish median stripe, 10-20 mm long, 15-20 mm wide, inner perianth parts yellow to orangish yellow, rotate, 25-30 mm long, 15-20 mm wide; staminal filaments yellow; style greenish, ca. 15 mm long; stigma lobes 8-10.  Berries greenish white to yellow, yellowish brown, or reddish purple, depending on the strain, fleshy, barrel-shaped, 5-10 cm long, 4-9 cm in diameter"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 419-420).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in dry, disturbed habitats"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 419-420).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Unknown, although most likely Mexico, cultivated since ancient times for its edible fruit, and now widely escaped and naturalized in warm parts of the world" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 419-420).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (p. 94)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 419-420)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 419-420)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 419-420)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (p. 5) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H109914 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lehua Island	introduced	Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya (2006) (p. 22) Not seen on this survey. Perhaps extirpated by biocontrol on this islands.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 419-420)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Hughes, Guy D'Oyly (1995) (pp. 2-3) Voucher cited: Hughes s.n. (BISH) Common in lowland dry to mesic communities up to 750 m elevation.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 419-420)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	possibly native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced invasive	Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. (2001) (p. 175)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé/naturalisé".
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 290)

Control: 

Biological:  "This cactus has been successfully controlled in most areas in Hawaii and South Africa by two introduced insects, Dactylopius opuntiae Cockerell (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) and Cactoblastis cactorum Bergroth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)" (Cronk & Fuller, 2001; p. 176).

Additional information:  Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

Additional online information about Opuntia ficus-indica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Opuntia ficus-indica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. 2001. Plant invaders. Earthscan Publications, Ltd., London. 241 pp.

Florence, J. 2004. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2. Paris. IRE Editions, Publications Scientifiques, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 41. 503 pp.

Hughes, Guy D'Oyly. 1995. New Hawaiian plant records II. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:1-10.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya. 2006. An annotated checklist and new island records of flowering plants from Lehua Islet, Ni‘ihau, Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:19-29.