Opuntia leucotricha Dc.

Erect shrub 3–4 m high, to 4 m diam., trunk well-developed, to 1 m high and 15–30 cm wide in older plants. Stem segments firmly attached, broadly obovate to suborbicular, 10–30 cm long, 7.5–20 cm wide, 10–13 mm thick, compressed, not tuberculate, grey-green, minutely whitish-pubescent, the hairs 0.3–0.5 mm long. Areoles 30–80 per stem segment face, 9–20 mm apart, circular or subcircular, 2–3.5 mm wide, not raised, with wool pale brown. Leaves succulent, subulate, aristate, velvety, caducous. Spines 2–6 per areole (8–10 in older stem segments, and irregularly curving), 1 much longer, spreading, 15–40 mm long, c. 0.2 mm wide at base, narrowly elliptic in cross-section, straight or slightly curved, filiform, flexible, not barbed, white. Glochids few in a dense tuft, conspicuous, bristle-like, 0.5–9 mm long, reddish brown. Flowers 40–50 mm diam.; outer tepals often reddish tinged, succulent, narrow-obovate to obovate, acute; inner tepals yellow, spreading, broad-obovate to obovate-cuneate, 25–40 mm long, 15–20 mm wide,  the apex obtuse with a short mucro, minutely denticulate; staminal filaments very pale yellow, anthers pale yellow; style very pale yellow, stigma lobes green; pericarpel (at anthesis) tuberculate, with some apical, setaceous spines. Fruit solitary, obovoid to obconic, 25–35 (–50) mm long, 20–30 mm diam., umbilicus deep, not tuberculate, spineless or with filiform spines (spines and even areoles deciduous to varying degrees), yellowish to reddish at maturity, succulent but not juicy. Seeds not seen.

Sparingly established in semi-arid and arid inland areas of South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. In South Australia it has been collected from a creek bed under Eucalyptus camaldulensis. In Victoria it has been collected from mallee, in a dump area on calcareous red earth.

The fruit are eaten raw or made into a fermented drink.

Can be grown by seedlings.