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| Various views of Texas prickly pear (Opuntia lindheimeri): top left, the plant in bloom with flowers and buds; top right, close-up of the year’s new prickly pear “pads,” or nopilitas, that provided an important food source from spring through late summer; bottom, close-ups of unripe (left) and ripe red prickly pear fruit (right) known as “pears” or tunas. These served as the quintessential South Texas staple during the late summer and early falll |