Prickly pear cactus, as with most prickly pears, is instantly recognizable as a cactus by its flat pads, although some have cylindrical segments. They are often lightly spined, but make up for this apparent lack of self-defense through abundant quantities of innocent-looking tufts of glochids -- fishhook-like prickles that break off and stay in the finger.
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They rarely bloom indoors, but their large yellow, purple, red, or orange flowers are very attractive. Pads can be broken off and rooted at any time of year.
