Prickly pear in Morocco
Everywhere you look in Marrakech there is colour. The spice sellers stand out with their range of flowers, herbs and spices all on display. One that seems surreal is the potpourri, but it is hard to work out where it comes from.
Every colour of the rainbow, dried and shrivelled but with a weird attraction of their own. A lot of the time wandering around the markets in Marrakech the question is always ‘What are the coloured flowers from?’.
Prickly pears are a cactus that grows everywhere in Marrakech city and the surrounding countryside. Heading toward Imlil in the High Atlas Mountains there are what seems to be woodlands and field boundaries filled with these succulent plants.
In the late summer, the fruits turn a deep red and are a juicy treat, peeled on the spot by street sellers with a taste similar to watermelon.
The flowers appear in late spring and are harvested and dried before going on sale as home decorations.
What other ugly plant could be so beautiful and tasty with such a bizarre name?
And in case you are interested its Latin name is Opuntia ficus-indica…