Opuntia (prickly pear) (nopal)

Ciertas plantas como Deinandra fasciculata que tienen hojas naturalmente pegajosas, a menudo crecen convenientemente cerca de tunas, lo que las hace más fáciles de manipular. Los recolectores también pueden frotalas en el pasto o en la arena para eliminar la mayoría de los alguates.
Los recolectores consumían parte de la fruta de inmediato, comían l pulpta con o sin semillas, o la convertían en semilla. También se procesaban las semillas secas y se molían en harina para hace un atole.
Los kumiai no parecen haber utilizado las pencas como un importante recurso alimenticio en el pasado. Los kumiai contemporáneos consideran que las pencas de los nopales son útiles para controlar la diabetes, y también las abren y aplican la pulpa interna húmeda directamente sobre las áreas inflamadas y las heridas. "Etnobotánica kumiai, Michael Wilken-Robertson."

Most of the dominant succulent species in cactus scrub communities in California are in the once-much-larger genus Opuntia. The opuntioid cacti of North and South America include about 200 species with diverse appearances. This has led plant taxonomists to divide the genus into distinctive groups now recognized into three groups. The first are chollas, placed in Cylindropuntia and include species with a rounded cross-section and a distinctive papery sheath around the spines. A second group, with a rounded cross-section of the stems but lacking the papery sheath around the spines forms the genus Grusonia. The prickly-pear, with flattened stems and a papery sheath around the spines, remain as the genus Opuntia. Regardless of the classification, all of our species of opuntia share the trait or primary spines with a barbed tip, which easily hooks into flesh. Beyond the problems of the major barbed spines, another unpleasant lesson is avoided by carefully noting the tiny hair-like spines at the base of the primary spines in prickly-pear species. These spines, called glochids, are barely visible to the naked eye. When a prickly-pear joint (fruit) is handled, the glochids readily embed themselves as defiantly resist removal. Unlike the primary spines, which clearly deter herbivores and aid in dispersal of cholla joints, it is unclear what role the glochids play. "Califorina Desert Plants, Philip W Rundel, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."