View source for Prickly pear

{{automatic taxobox
|image = Opuntia littoralis var vaseyi 4.jpg
|image_caption = [[Opuntia littoralis|''Opuntia littoralis'' var. ''vaseyi'']]
|display_parents = 2
|taxon = Opuntia
|authority = [[Philip Miller|Mill.]]
|subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
|subdivision = Many, see [[#Selected species|text]].
|synonyms = * ''Cactus'' <small>[[Charles Antoine Lemaire|Lem.]]</small>
* ''Chaffeyopuntia'' <small>[[Alberto Vojtěch Frič|Frič]] & [[Ernst Schelle|Schelle]]</small>
* ''Ficindica'' <small>[[St.-Lag.]]</small>
* ''Nopalea'' <small>[[Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck|Salm-Dyck]]</small>
* ''Phyllarthus'' <small>[[Noël Martin Joseph de Necker|Neck.]] ex [[M.Gómez]] (nom. inval.)</small>
* ''Salmiopuntia'' <small>[[Alberto Vojtěch Frič|Frič]] (nom. inval.)</small>
* ''Tunas'' <small>[[Joël Lunell|Lunell]]</small>
}}
The '''prickly pear''' is '''''Opuntia''''': a [[genus]] in the cactus [[family (biology)|family]], [[Cactaceae]]. There are about 190 different [[species]] of Opuntia. 

The genus is named after the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] city of [[Opus, Greece|Opus]]. There, according to [[Theophrastus]], an edible plant grew which could be propagated by rooting its leaves.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaN-hLL-3qEC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=III M-Q |year=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2677-6 |page=1885}}</ref>  

Prickly pears (mostly ''Opuntia stricta'') were originally imported into [[Australia]] in the 18th century for gardens. They were later used as a natural agricultural fencing.<ref name="patt">Patterson, Ewen K. 1936. The World's first insect memorial. ''Review of the River Plate'', December pp. 16–17</ref>  They quickly became a widespread [[invasive species|invasive]] [[weed]]. They changed {{convert|101000|mi2|km2|abbr=on}} of farming land into an impenetrable green jungle of prickly pear, in places {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} high. 

In 1919, the [[Government of Australia|Australian federal government]] established the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board to coordinate efforts with state governments to eradicate the weed. Early attempts at mechanical removal and poisonous chemicals failed, so in a last resort, [[biological control]] was attempted.<ref name="patt"/> There is a [[moth]], ''[[Cactoblastis cactorum]]'', from [[South America]], whose larvae eat prickly pear. It was introduced in 1925 and rapidly reduced the cactus population. A memorial hall in [[Chinchilla, Queensland|Chinchilla (Queensland)]] commemorates the moth.<ref name="patt"/> This is one of the earliest known examples of the biological control of [[pests]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cactaceae]]