Hello my darling flowers! Today, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I bring you a plant that is very dear to Mexican people.

The Opuntia cactus, commonly known as Prickly Pear, is native to Central America (although it can also be found in North America, including Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and all those dry states) and goes all the way down to the South through the Andes region to Patagonia. Like I said, this plant is very important to the Mexicans who have it on their flag, and is nationally called Nopal. The Pads are usually refered to as Nopales. It is edible, and it is very common in Mexico to take their spines off and grill them, chop them and eat as a salad, or mince them and use in tacos. Supposedly, it tastes like juicy asparagus. It produces a fruit, commonly known as cactus pear. It is also edible and said to be very sweet.

Being a cactus, it handles drought very well, storing water inside its pads. You know, spines prevent the water from evaporating from the plant, and their roots grow really long to catch any water they can. Their flowers can be white, pink, red, or orange and they bloom pretty often, as they aren't dependent on leaf growth, they have more energy to bloom. As as hosue plant, always place it outside on a pot with very well draining mix, consisting of perlite, small rocks, sand and normal soil. Don't water it too often. they LOVE being "neglected."

Were you to hypothetically get lost in Mexican desert and came across this plant, you would survive because you can eat it and be hydrated and full thanks to it. How cool is that?