Eastern prickly-pear, Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf., also known as devil's tongue, is a widely distributed cactus with a native range that is mostly in the eastern half of the country. There are a few other cactus species that are either uncommon or introduced, which are not included in this discussion other than mentioning a couple of widely know species: common prickly-pear, O. monacantha (Willd.) Haw., and Barbary fig, O. ficus-indica (L.) Mill. The local populations of the eastern prickly-pear I have seen are on dry rocky outcrops whether limestone or sandstone, but on the coastal plain prickly-pear grows in sand. William Bartram described the pads as leaves that gradually became more woody with age and in large old specimens could even support the weight of a man. The pads usually are smaller than the span of a hand or even a palm and on poor sites where the pads get detached and survive individually they are even smaller; those with larger pad are probably from the other species such as those mentioned previously. A few pads may have spines, but the most important thing to avoid is the glochids, which are tiny hairlike bristles found in little in tufts scattered over the pad and/or fruits. If glochids get stuck in you it feels like the only way to get rid of it is to wait until they work all the way through to the other side, although white glue may help if they are not already completely burrowed. The flowers are yellow and in the classic movie "Who Shot Liberty Valance" they were referred to as a cactus rose. Both the fruits and pads of (at least some species of) Opuntina Mill. are edible once the spines and glochids are removed, which can be done by peeling and perhaps even burnt off with a flame in the later case. There are some species of prickly-pear that are invasive mostly in other countries, including the Holy Land, which has resulted the plants being included in contemporary paintings of Jesus. The only thing to know about growing a cactus is that they can’t be watered too much, not to be confused with obligate wetland species that also can’t be watered too much.