What is the difference between a prickly pear and a cactus apple?

You mean a tuna vs a xoconostle?

>>9275230
Prickly pear often refers to the entire plant and I've never heard the fruit called cactus apples

>>9275230
Well, some cacti have the things on that pic. A great many species are edible, but they're fully of incredibly hard seeds and are covered in tiny hairlike spines that will make your life living hell if you get one in your mouth.

Other cacti have fruits that are similar to dragonfruit. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on the internet about them, and there doesn't seem to be quite as much variety of them as there is of prickly pears.

>>9275331
hmm, alright,
maybe I'll just leave them be then

>>9275230
If they have prickly pear you can eat both the cactus and the fruit they bear. Only thing is you need to cut off the large spines, and the easiest way to get rid of the small spines is by burning them. The nopales, which are the green pads, have a but of an slimy texture and taste like a mix between green beans and okra.
The fruit I don't really have experience with.

>>9275230
>tfw remembering camping out in the dessert, collecting a bunch of prickly pears, burning the hairs off, then stuffing them in the kettle to make tea
That was comfy.
The giardia to follow- due to my ignorance of the presence of local Hopi cattle and the failure of my iodine, was less so.

>>9275698
Didn't you boil the water to make tea? Does giardia now survive boiling?