Paleo Foraging

Opuntia engelmannii Salm-Dyck

Synonyms: = O. lindheimeri (O. engelmannii subsp. lindheimeri), O. occidentalis var. megacarpa (O. engelmannii var. engelmanii)

Note – some sources (e.g. iNaturalist) consider O. lindheimeri to be a separate species, but its current taxonomic status is a synonym of of O. engelmannii (1).

Common names: Cactus apple, Engelmann’s pricklypear

Cahuilla: qexe’yily (Bean and Saubel 1972:97)

Papago: nohwi (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14)

Location in Texas: all TX except N & far E; very common in Travis Co.

Form: cactus, flat stems, up to 5 ft tall.

Flowers: Apr-June (yellow, pink).

Food

Fruits – eaten by the Mexican Kickapoo (Latorre and Latorre 1977:345), Cahuilla (Bean and Saubel 1972:97), and Papago (Castetter and Underhill 1935:19).

The juice was fermented by the Papago (Castetter and Underhill 1935:25).

Stems – when young and tender, were eaten by the Mexican Kickapoo (Latorre and Latorre 1977:345). Stems were diced and eaten by the Cahuilla (Bean and Saubel 1972:97). The spines were scraped off and the stems were sliced in strips to eat as greens by the Papago (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14).

Gathering Season – fruits: May and June (Bean and Saubel 1972:97) / June [and] October (Castetter and Underhill 1935:19). Stems: summer (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14).

Notes – an important food source of the Papago (Castetter and Underhill 1935:15).

Experimentation

Buds:

The flower buds / immature fruits (large pedicels) of Opuntia basilaris [in AZ & CA, not in TX] were eaten by the Cahuilla and Panamint (Barrows 1967:67, Coville 1892:354). They were first cooked in an earth oven for 12 hours or more (Barrows 1967:67).

Following the methods of the Cahuilla (Barrows 1967:67), I have gathered the buds of Opuntia engelmanii by knocking them off with a stick into a basket. They are more firmly attached to the stems than the ripe fruits. I brushed off the spines using a natural fiber skin brush. I tried using an expedient bunch of grass in the field, but the finer and more dense bristles of my skin brush worked far better. Instead of an earth oven I used a gas oven. To mimic the sealed conditions of an earth oven, I wrapped the buds in aluminum foil to prevent them drying out. After 12 hours, I ate them, and found them to be quite tasty. They had a slight roasted and tart taste but were most reminiscent of artichoke or asparagus.

The benefit of using the buds rather than the fruit are:

(1) they are available earlier in the year. In the early spring, there are fewer plant foods available, and the prickly pear buds are some of the first substantial plant foods to appear.

(2) they have no seeds to deal with. The seeds in the ripe fruits are abundant, rather large, and hard. The seeds are edible but must be removed to properly eat the fruit. Eating the buds avoids this extra work.

(3) they seem to be filling and nutrient-dense, as the plant is concentrating sap and nutrients in the buds in preparation for flowering and fruiting.

(4) they can be dried and stored long-term.

Fruits:

I have eaten the fresh fruits many times. I rub or burn off the spines. The seeds can be removed by hand after cutting them in half, or simply spat out.

Stems:

I have eaten the mature green stems various times. However, the best stems are the young, tender ones. These are available in the spring and are a brighter green. They often have soft green leaf remnants growing from where the large spines will later be. They are flexible. I brush or burn off the spines and grill them whole and slice them or slice them raw and boil or saute them. They have a tart taste, a mucilaginous texture, and are an excellent addition to most any Tex-Mex or Mexican style dish.

Reference:

(1) WFO (2023): Opuntia lindheimeri Engelm. Published on the Internet;
http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0001286998. Accessed on: 20 Apr 2023