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The Spanish settlers of California, struggling against isolation and the perils of the unknown in a strange land, turned to whatever they could find in order to pursue their goal of colonization of the Californias. One of those useful tools were cacti that grew in the Mexican interior-Opuntia ficus indica and its cousin, Opuntia megacantha. These are the cacti that are commonly found in San Diego, and their humble and sometimes awkward appearance belies their importance in California's early Eurocentric history.

Key to the security of the Spanish empire were the missions-the first of which was built in San Diego in 1769-and El Camino Real, or the Royal Road. The outposts along the road had to be self sufficient and had to minister to the European conquerors and many Indians living in the California hinterlands.

The Spanish met the challenge of empire building with determination and no little shrewd skill. The Franciscan priests learned from their Indian subjects about the uses of cacti which had been cultivated by the Indians since ancient times and soon imported them into Alta California. The cactus could survive hard travel either on mule back or by sea and the cuttings readily grew wherever they were transplanted. It needed little water and could be eaten in season. The Spaniards soon came to prize Opuntia and planted it heavily throughout the state. Along the way, Opuntia acquired the name some English-speaking gardeners use today: Indian Fig.

Cacti were used in a variety of ways; the cactus pads were used as a source of mucilage-a binding material that went into the mix of clay, water, horse manure and straw to form the adobe bricks used in every structure the Spaniards built. The baked bricks were very heavy and prone to melting in the rain unless they were protected. The protection was derived from cactus in the form of a boiled pulp mixed with lime and sand plaster that was used to strengthen adobe walls. Once finished, the walls and interiors were treated to a paint that had cactus added to it to keep water, mold and fungus out.

Besides use as a building material, cactus could be eaten. The pads or nopales are sweet, juicy and nutritious and can be cooked like any vegetable. The nopal is stiall an important element in Mexican cuisine today. The fleshy, sweet berries were traded like money throughout Mexico from pre-historic times. Additionally, the cactus was used as a fence to enclose cattle, buildings or crop lands. As time passed, the fences became building material and food; meaning that the humble cactus was a sustainable product.

Opuntia ficus indica is the most common variety of cacti found in around the region today. There are numerous varieties that display large, thicket-forming prickly pears, some with and others without spines. They tend toward production of clusters of ripe fruit in the fall and some of the massive, thicket-forming, hybrid forms of Opuntia can survive the grass fires common in California by regenerating from live stems in the center of their massive thickets where fire is unable to penetrate. These complex species and various cultivars have spread throughout California and many of the tropical regions of the world, courtesy of the Franciscans who brought them here 240 years ago.

Opuntia didn't remain in the American Spanish empire. It was transplanted to other Spanish holdings in Sicily, southern Italy, North Africa and to Spain. It could survive as far north as Northern California and used to be in company with the Sequoias before the Americans eradicated it from its northern reaches. Perhaps its not an exaggeration to say that if it had not been for the cactus, the Spanish could not have settled their Mexican and Alta Californian holdings. As it is, this humble plant is unjustly forgotten and ignored by the Americans. Should you not care to ignore Opuntia, you can still see one of the oldest outcroppings at the San Diego Mission de Alcala-a hedge that dates to the 1770's which is as strong as ever, even though the buildings adjacent to it have undergone extensive restoration.