Opuntia seed question

[majcka]

I put this here, because I don't now where alse to. I have a strange happening in my GH lately. Or at least I think so. Here it is.
Last year I got this Opuntia ficus-indica. It bloomed in july:

Opuntia ficus indica cvet.jpg (55.38 KiB) Viewed 3978 times

That is how it looked in september:

Opuntia ficus indica.jpg (59.89 KiB) Viewed 3978 times

All year round that thing stayed on. Two of them. A little time before I moved it to GH that two things started to change the color. Now they look like this:

Opuntia ficus-indica today

IMG_1224.JPG (39.73 KiB) Viewed 3978 times

Isn't that a bit odd? I mean to take that much time?

[cactushobbyman]

My go on to become Tunas. Turns reddish purple then it time to eat them. Why yours are taking so long??????

Had issues earlier and could not attach the pic. I saw you post on that.

1.jpg (154.48 KiB) Viewed 3956 times

[majcka]

My go on to become Tunas. Turns reddish purple then it time to eat them. Why yours are taking so long??????

Why indeed?

[paulzie32]

I've had some Opuntias in pots that kept their fruit a LOOONG time... Over a year... but usually they are infertile and contain no seeds. But, first, I don't think your plant is O. ficus-indica. The pads look wrong. Wrong shape, Wrong size. It looks like a plant commonly found here in Florida. Maybe Opuntia stricta? http://opuntiads.com/O/opuntia-n-z/opun ... a-stricta/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[majcka]

But, first, I don't think your plant is O. ficus-indica. The pads look wrong. Wrong shape, Wrong size. It looks like a plant commonly found here in Florida. Maybe Opuntia stricta? http://opuntiads.com/O/opuntia-n-z/opun ... a-stricta/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know. It had label on when purchased. It was writen O. ficus-indica.

[paulzie32]

Cactus are commonly mislabeled. Do a quick search for Opuntia stricta and Opuntia ficus-indica and compare pictures of cladodes (pads) O. ficus-indicus is usually quite large. Did you look at the images in the link I posted? Here's a picture off Opuntiads.com of one. Is yours anywhere near that size? -

[majcka]

You challenged me with that post of yours. I'm really not convinced anymore to have ficus-indica. It's not about the pad largness. It's all about fruit. Fruit doesn't match. It really is more like strictas.

[paulzie32]

Yeah... fruit's not really as good an Identifier. Pad, Spines, Flower... usually better when taken all together. But Opuntias are also very promiscuous and it could be a hybrid

[iann]

Fruits are an excellent diagnostic in cacti and can offer some very strict divisions between species. I'm not sure how well you can identify an Opuntia from the fruit alone though.

O. ficus-indica fruit is large and has many areoles. O. stricta fruit is smaller with far fewer areoles. There really shouldn't be any confusion between the two. Or it may be something else entirely. The fruit in your photo is not O. ficus-indica though. Might be O. stricta although I wouldn't swear to it. I don't have a mental image of O. stricta being as spiny as your plant.

[majcka]

Talking about spines; No new pads have them. That would be two pads from last year and about 3 or 4 from this year. No spines. Only the old plant as I got it has spines.

[paulzie32]

Fruits are an excellent diagnostic in cacti and can offer some very strict divisions between species. I'm not sure how well you can identify an Opuntia from the fruit alone though.

Right, I meant there are many other Opuntias that have similar fruit to those in the picture posted. Definitely doesn't look like O. ficus-indicus, but may not be O. stricta... just what I thought it looked like compared to some of my plants and those I see growing around Florida.

[Alber khan]

My fiscus indica had the fruit for 2+ years.Now they have started to become red-ish....

[Peterthecactusguy]

BTW I know this is old and I missed this, but I believe that plant is O. paraguayensis and it might be closely related to O. ficus-indica. however don't quote me on that because not everyone will agree with that. It's just something I read. And many Opuntia are self fertile, in other words they easily pollinate themselves.