Invasiveness Assessment - Prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) in Victoria (Nox)
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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.
| Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here. |
The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Prickly pear.
A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1 MB)
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Common Name: Prickly pear
Scientific name: Opuntia spp.
| Question | Comments | Reference | Rating |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | Assumed to germinate at any time of year as per Opuntia robusta and Opuntia stricta. | P & C (1992 p. 363) | H |
| Establishment requirements? |  | | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | Invades dry sclerophyll forest and woodland therefore would receive shading from overstorey spp. | Carr et al (1992) | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Erect succulent herb. Other. | Carr et al (1992) | L |
| Allelopathic properties? | No Allelopathic properties described. | | L |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | | | ML |
| Normal growth rate? | “Cactus Pears are slow growing”. | Muyt (2001 p. 203) | ML |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | “Plants are extremely tolerant of very hot and dry conditions”. | Muyt (2001 p. 203) | MH |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | | | H |
| Number of propagules produced? | | | H |
| Propagule longevity? | ? | | M |
| Reproductive period? | “Once established individual plants can persist for several decades”. | Muyt (2001 p. 203) | H |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | | | ML |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | | | H |
| How far do they disperse? | | | H |
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