Westwood pear
Opuntia streptacantha
family
Cactaceae
origin
Exotic
declaration
Category 3 Restricted Matter (Biosecurity Act 2014)
Must not be distributed or disposed. This means it must not be released into the environment unless the distribution or disposal is authorised in a regulation or under a permit.
Common names
Nopal Cardón.
An upright or spreading fleshy shrub usually growing 50-100 cm tall. Its stems are much-branched and consist of a series of flattened, fleshy segments. These segments are (10-35 cm long, 7-20 cm wide, and 10-20 mm thick) and have groups of one of two sharp spines (2-4 cm long). The flowers (up to 7 cm long and 6-8 cm across) are bright yellow and are borne along the margins of the stem segments. The fleshy fruit turn reddish-purple in colour as they mature. Its fruit (4-8 cm long and 2.5-4 cm wide) are fleshy, egg-shaped, and usually have several tufts of small barbed bristles on their surface.
Impact
Impact
Westwood pear is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. This species was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in two Natural Resource Management regions. It is also listed in the Global Invasive Species Database, and regarded to be in the top 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species.
Location
Location
Characteristics
Characteristics
Similar Species
Similar Species
Westwood pear is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. This species was recently listed as a priority environmental weed in two Natural Resource Management regions. It is also listed in the Global Invasive Species Database, and regarded to be in the top 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species.
