Promoted
Prickly Pear Cactus or Opuntia basilaris
Prickly pears are mostly used for food in the Hispanic community. The pads are stripped of its spines, boiled then eaten. It is also used for low maintenance fencing and is very effective at keeping cattle corralled.
Here are a few recipes for cooking the pad and making jam from the fruit.
https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1800-2019.pdf
"Opuntia basilaris" is a cactus species found in southwest United States. It occurs mostly in the Mojave Desert, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and Colorado Deserts, and also in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico; it ranges through the Grand Canyon and Colorado River region to southern Utah, and in western Arizona, regions along the Lower Colorado River Valley.
