BehaketaOpuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.observed byAndrzej KonstantynowiczAndrzej Konstantynowicz2024(e)ko maiatzaren 27(a)
observed by
Andrzej KonstantynowiczAndrzej Konstantynowicz
2024(e)ko maiatzaren 27(a)
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Iruzkinak
Datu gehigarriak
Noiz sortua
2024ko mai. 29a
Berrikusitako azkenak
2024ko mai. 29a
Łódź, Stoki
Native to central Mexico; widely cultivated in warm temperate zone.
Ornamental plant.
Edible plant - fruit raw, cooked or dried for later use, sweet and gelatinous, very refreshing, they are somewhat like a watermelon in flavour; stem segments (or pads) cooked and used like French beans, or used as a pot-herb, watery and very mucilaginous; flowers raw; seeds ground into a meal; the red fruit colour of some varieties is used as a dye for food; an edible gum is obtained from the stem.
Herbal plant - the flowers and stems are antispasmodic, diuretic and emollient; the flowers are astringent and are used to reduce bleeding and treat problems of the gastro-intestinal tract, especially diarrhoea, colitis and irritable bowel syndrome; the flowers are also used in the treatment of an enlarged prostate gland; the fruit is diuretic, eating the fruit turns the urine red.
Useful plant - the spiny forms of this plant make an excellent stock-proof barrier or hedge; the plant serve as a host plant for cochineal insects, which produce desirable red and purple dyes.