Thanks, Brian, Allen, and Paul! It is interesting to hear that it can be a real disaster when it spreads in the wild. It is indeed an aggressive species, and spreads quickly. In my yard, I must cut it back significantly each year after it blooms, and I have to watch where it germinates spontaneously. It is, however, one of the flowering plants that is ABSOLUTELY deer proof, not merely deer resistant. <G>
50 years ago, at survival school in California, we learned to eat the flesh of the prickly pear, along with other treats such as dandelions and wild onions. I would recommend it only as an alternative to starving. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 2:00 AM, Brian Walters <apathy...@lyons-ryan.org> wrote: > > On 27 June 2018 at 13:32 "Daniel J. Matyola" <danmaty...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > > > Every year, around Fathers Day, my carpets of prickly pear cactus burst > > forth into luxurious blooms: > > > > http://dan-matyola.squarespace.com/danmatyolas- > pesos/2018/6/24/prickly-pear > > > Very nicely framed and very spectacular. > > Every time Prickly Pear is mentioned it brings to mind the devastation > that the > plant caused to farmland in Australia in the early part of the 20th > century. It > was introduced here in mid 1800s and at its peak in the late 1920s covered > almost 25 million hectares. > > In one of the most spectacular examples of biological control, it was > tamed by > millions of larvae of a moth (appropriately named Cactoblastis) which > chomped > their way through the prickly pest. > > There is even a memorial to the Cactoblastis moth: > > http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/disaster/plagues/ > display/91971-cactoblastis-memorial > > > > Cheers > > Brian > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Brian Walters > Western Sydney Australia > http://lyons-ryan.org/southernlight/ > https://500px.com/supera1000/galleries > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
