Prickly Pear Cactus

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YEMEN SAIJIKI

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Prickly pear cactus

***** Location: Yemen
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation


flowers of the prickly pear
kigo for spring



fruit of the prickly pear
kigo for summer


Prickly pear cactus, Opuntia dillenii

Prickly pear season is welcomed warmly in Yemen, particularly by the poor. The fruit has its own market that doesn’t allow any other fruits to come close to it. As cheap fruit with a gratifying return, prickly pears are bought by all men, women and children. Prickly pear season is from June to August and during that time of year, various zones and locations are full of street vendors selling prickly pears by cart, while women sellers use baskets.



All sellers – men, women and children alike – hold a small knife in their hands, not for slaughtering, but for removing the prickly pear’s outer covering, which has small thorns. If the outer covering isn’t removed carefully, the small thorns may mix with the fruit causing injury when eaten. In an area allocated for flood drainage caused by rain, one can find many people and cars filled with prickly pear boxes. Most of the fruit comes from Al-Hayma, where prickly pear trees grow abundantly.
[Salim Al-Majidi © 2003 Yemen Times www.yementimes.com]


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Worldwide use

North America

Prickly Pear
nopal cactus

kigo for summer


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Sing, Stonechat! Sing!
Now I've seen it too..
prickly pear blossoms


Enjoy the little things
- he whispers -
offering prickly pear

Heike Gewi, Yemen, January 2008


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Related words

***** ***** YEMEN SAIJIKI

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