# A real life cold temperate edible cactus, Maihuenia poeppigii **URL:** \ **Category:** Adaptation Projects\ **Tags:** cool-weather, breeding\ **Created:** [November 22, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675 "2023-11-22T20:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MikeJennings](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/mikejennings/32/579_2.png) [@MikeJennings](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/MikeJennings)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/22 "2023-11-23T20:04:51Z")
Great article! I would love to try making that cross if I can find a source for the Suluhna cultivar. I’ve always wondered about the origin of O.c. ‘ellisiana’. Is there actually a population of glochid-less plants in it’s native range? Is it just one cloned cultivar that doesn’t grow true from seed? Or is it a hybrid with O. ficus-indica? I can’t find much info about that. ---
**Author:** ![Thulahn](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/thulahn/32/2410_2.png) [@Thulahn](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Thulahn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/23 "2023-11-23T20:29:51Z")
Thanks! I tried to find the origins of O. cacapana “ellisiana” with a literature search but nothing came up. If it were a hybrid with O. ficus-indica then I reckon it’d have a name to match. Having said that, none of Burbank’s “original” crosses have kept their lineage. My best guess is that someone spotted a particularly unusual O. cacapana in the wild and took a cutting, that is, it’s a cultivar that won’t grow true. Opuntias species can hybridise (with lots of sterile offsprings), so there’s a chance that Ellisiana might just be a dead end. Only one way to find out! ---
**Author:** ![Ascentropic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@Ascentropic](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Ascentropic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/24 "2023-11-23T22:37:08Z")
That really makes me want to cross cereus with one of the hardy ceroids in the US like Echinocereus. ---
**Author:** ![UnicornEmily](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/unicornemily/32/530_2.png) [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/25 "2023-11-24T02:07:18Z")
Yeah, that’s really interesting. Is it an official definition somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Thulahn](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/thulahn/32/2410_2.png) [@Thulahn](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Thulahn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 6:57am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/26 "2023-11-24T06:57:57Z")
Well, it says in your profile that you’re from Provo, Utah. The map on this article says that you’re either in or right next to a semi arid zone: [Semi-arid climate - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid_climate) But you can also you use the strict definition in the article to double check. I guessed you were in a semi arid climate anyway based off my mass media knowledge of Utah 😊 ---
**Author:** ![UnicornEmily](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/unicornemily/32/530_2.png) [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 7:38am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/27 "2023-11-24T07:38:11Z")
Huh! Well, I did the calculation in the article, and it looks like . . . yep, I’m solidly in what it calls a semi-arid climate! ---
**Author:** ![Thulahn](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/thulahn/32/2410_2.png) [@Thulahn](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Thulahn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 8:05am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/28 "2023-11-24T08:05:34Z")
There we go, cactus time! ---
**Author:** ![UnicornEmily](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/goingtoseed.discourse.group/unicornemily/32/530_2.png) [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675/29 "2023-11-24T08:57:09Z")
(Chuckles.) Yeah, I’ve seriously considered prickly pear. But I’ve determined that, with this particular project, I’m only interested enough to be a customer of the successful plant breeder. 😉 Or a beta-tester. I could easily see myself helping out by testing “this may be a final product, but it needs to be tested in other climates to make sure” varieties. [Previous page](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/a-real-life-cold-temperate-edible-cactus-maihuenia-poeppigii/1675.md?page=1)