Opuntia
in botany, Indian fig; the typical genus of the family Opuntidæ.
The stem consists of flat joints broader above than below, at length becoming cylindrical and continuous. All the species were originally American. O. vulcylindrical and continuous. All the spe- Bermuda, etc., whence it has been introduced into Southern Europe; its fruit imparts a red tinge to the urine of those who eat it. O. tuna furnishes a rich carmine pigment, used in Naples as a watercolor. O. dillenii is used in the Deccan as a hedge plant about cantonments.
Cochineal insects brought to India flourished on it, and it yields a coarse fiber used in paper making.