Prickly Pear
Opuntia stricta (?)
Observed adjacent to a highway near Lake Baringo, Rift Valley, Kenya, Africa. October 2010. At right in the photo is a red, nearly ripe fruit or ‘pear’. This might be a variety of Opuntia stricta.
Cochineal are cottony white bugs without legs that feed exclusively on cacti.
Cochineal Scale
The arid and semi-arid regions of East Africa have many endemic, spiny, succulent plant species, some of which appear to be cacti. However, except for a small group of epiphytic cactus species, all cactus are native to the Americas. Their occurrence in Kenya is due to introduction of the exotic seeds or cuttings. Prickly pear cacti are sometimes encouraged as natural fence barriers, but otherwise their presence in Africa should be seen as unproductive. Prickly pear cactus have become significant invasive exotic weeds in many parts of the world.
A less spiny example from Mweiga, Nyeri County, Kenya. Dec. 2016.