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Prickly Pear, or Indian Fig

This fruit is in the form of a fig or pear, with cluster of small spines on the skin, which enclose a fleshy pulp of a red or purple colour, with an agreeable subacid flavour. The plant which produces it is a native of Virginia and Barbary. In countries where the fruit abounds it is considered very wholesome, and though the taste is not agreeable to all persons till they have eaten of it several times, yet they soon become very fond of it. It is now naturalised in many parts of the South of Europe, and North of Africa, and in other warm countries. The prickly pear in some countries is extensively employed as an article of diet. It is imported into Britain to a small extent from the Mediterranean. In the South of England the plant grows in the open air, and occasionally ripens its fruit.