The year 2025 began with severe damage from a winter that saw temperatures dipping to 12° F, which caused extensive damage to the spineless opuntia ficus indica orchard. Most of the pads rotted on the plant, were covered in a black mold and clearly could not survive. I cut most of the pads off down to one (or no) pads connected to the main trunk pad. I believed that most of them would die from their cold winter injuries eventually. As you will see later, I was wrong.
Opuntia ficus indica (prickly pear) was bred to be spineless by Luther Burbank in California in the early part of the 20th century. This spineless cultivar has spread around the world and is used principally as livestock feed throughout arid regions. It's fruit (including the peels) has many applications as a consumable, as well as applications in pharmaceuticals. The seeds render a valuable oil and can be ground into flour for baking. It's fibrous pads are also used to create bio-fuel and synthetic leather.