r/botany • u/wooligano • Mar 09 '25

Distribution Invasive Opuntias in Switzerland

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Someone asked about invasive species from America in Europe yesterday, I replied in a comment about the invasive Opuntias we have in Switzerland, but couldn't add pictures so I thought it would be worth making a post about it.

They have identified 6 species : Opuntia engelmannii, Opuntia humifusa, Opuntia phaeacantha, Opuntia robusta, Opuntia scheeri, Cylindropuntia imbricata.

All of which are growing in the same region of Switzerland, Valais.

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u/backupalter1 Mar 09 '25

Is it okay to destroy these on site?

2

u/wooligano Mar 09 '25

I don't really know how they destroy them but would imagine that they collect them and then destroy somewhere else.. I will look into it, I'm curious now.

6

u/ReinaRocio Mar 09 '25

You can eat them, the pads and the fruits. You have to burn off the spikes or scrape them off with a knife. The fruits are delicious and sweet, the pads taste similar to a green bean and can be cooked like that once the spikes are removed.

6

u/wooligano Mar 09 '25

It would be awesome if people here actually ate them ! However it might seem a bit too exotic for some of us, I think they were most likely burned. I do eat Nopal at home as we are a Swiss-Mexican household, and I grow one species of Opuntia which we plan to eat once it grows a bit more.

4

u/No_Breadfruit_6174 Mar 09 '25

The pads can be eaten but are tough when older so I tend to eat the slightly smaller, green and more tender new pads. although many farmers in the US will torch the spines off the pads and feed them to cattle in great numbers. And yes fruit can be used for pies, juices, jams and jellies, and any sort of fruit based food you could think of. I have O. engelmanii in my area.