With the epidemic they have about the plant, I can't see why someone wouldn't see it go to a good "cause"
No. the prickly pear is not native to Australia. It is an introduced species, and a noxious pest.
The prickly pear provides food and home for the wood rat. In turn, the wood rat acts a pollinator for the prickly pear.
The Prickly Pear Cactus
wood rats. The Cactoblastas catterpillar is an animial. and has all but erradicated PRICKLY PEAR from Australia where the catterpillar was introduced to control the cactus. The PRICKLY PEAR was Australia's most invasive weed. spreading throughout the arid areas at a phenominal pace.
A "prickly pear" is not actually a pear.
The prickly pear was brought to Australia by the British for the purpose of starting a cochineal dye industry. The British wanted to break Spain's monopoly on the cochineal dye industry by entering the market using sources from its own colonies.
They are awfully proud of their Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly.
on a pear
A prickly pear is a cactus. There is no commensalism or mutualism.
There is no such place as the Saguaro Desert. There is the Sonoran Desert where the saguaro cactus grows. Some small animals such as rodents and rabbits feed on the prickly pear as well as javelina, deer, pronghorns, bighorn sheep and tortoises.
The Aztecs named their capital Tenochtitlan which means "the place of the fruit of the prickly pear cactus",because this food was like a lake and this lake was in the middle of the old Mexico's.
apricot prickly pear cactus