List of edible cacti

Prickly pear fruit for sale at a market, Zacatecas, Mexico

This is a list^[1] of edible plants in the family Cactaceae.

• Acanthocereus tetragonus, the sword pear,
• Carnegiea gigantea, the Saguaro,
• Cereus repandus - California and Florida
• genus Corryocactus (also known as Erdisia), the tasty berrylike
  • C. brevistylis, C. pulquiensis, and C. erectus
• Coryphantha
  • C. robbinsorum and C. recurvata.
• genus Echinocereus ("Strawberry Cactus")
  • E. engelmannii, E. bonkerae, E. boyce-thompsonii
  • E. enneacanthus, E. cincerascens, E. stramineus
  • E. dasyacanthus, E. fendleri and E. fasciculatus
  • E. brandegeei, E. ledingii and E. nicholii
  • E. engelmannii ("Strawberry Vanilla")
• genus Echinopsis
  • South American species
    • E. (or T.) atacamensis, E./T. coquimbana and E./T. schickendanzii
• genus Epiphyllum, the Orchid cactus
  • E. anguliger (also called Phyllocactus darrahii, said to be like gooseberries)
• genus Epithelantha (the fruit of all species said to be edible)
• genus Ferocactus
  • Ferocactus hamatacanthus
  • F. histrix ("borrachitos") and F. latispinus ("pochas")
• genus Harrisia (of Florida and the Caribbean), the "Prickly Apples"
  • NOTE: The following 5 are said to be "endangered endemic" :
    • H. aboriginum, H.simpsonii, H. adscendens, H fragrans and H. eriophora
    • Argentinian H. balansae
• Genus Hylocereus
  • H. undatus, H. costaricensis, H. megalanthus, H. guatemalensis, H. polyrhizus and H. triangularis (aka "Dragon Fruits")
• genus Mammillaria ("chilitos" as they look like tiny red chili peppers)
  • M. applanata, M. meiacantha, M. macdougalii, M. lasiacantha
  • M. grahamii, M. oliviae, M. mainiae, M. microcarpa, M. thornberi and many others
• Myrtillocactus geometrizans ("garambulos", taste like less-acid cranberries)

Cultivated prickly pear grown for food

• genus Opuntia, the prickly pears
  • Opuntia ficus-indica
  • Opuntia matudae
  • Opuntia fragilis^[2]
• genus Pachycereus,
  • Pachycereus pringlei, the Cardon
  • P. schottii, the Senita and P. weberi, the Candelabro
• genus Peniocereus,
  • Peniocereus greggii, the Arizona Queen of the Night
  • P. johnstonii and P. serpentinus
• genus Pereskia
  • P. aculeata, the "Barbados gooseberry"
  • P. guamacho
• genus Stenocereus (quite sweet, but prone to ferment; hence the "agria" [="sour"]))
  • S. fricii ("Pitayo de aguas"), S. griseus ("Pitayo de Mayo"), S. gummosus ("Pitahaya agria"
  • S. pruinosus ("Pitayo de Octubre"), S. montanus ("Pitaya colorada")
  • S. queretaroensis ("Pitaya de Queretaro"), S. standleyi ("Pita Marismena"), S. stellatus ("Xoconostle")
  • S. thurberi ("Organ Pipe Cactus", "Pitayo Dulce") and S. treleasi ("Tunillo")

References