One cannot come to Mexico without seeing a nopal plant. The nopal, a prickly pear cactus, is native to this region and grows wildly. I have seen it growing in the mountains during hikes and even on the grassy highlands of the beach in Puerto Escondido. My only fear was accidentally stepping on it or, even worse, losing my footing and falling on a nopal plant. Nonetheless, this plant is beautiful and extremely useful for food, clothing, medicine and symbolism in Mexico.
The nopal plant is not what most Americans think of when we hear the word cactus. When I hear cactus, I think of the long, skinny green plant that looks like a tube with one arm sticking straight in the air. I think of cacus as only growing in deserts and having sharp brown needles sticking out of it on each side. While that cactus does exist, nopal is different. It is small, and its body is made of flat, green, oval-shaped disks extending from other flat circular disks that make up the center. Nopal is a cactus, so it does have long brown spikes, and during the right season, one can also see beautiful flowers growing on the end of these circular discs. I like this plant because it is beautiful and even adorns the Mexican flag!
