Among the olive groves and vineyards of sun-drenched Southern Italy, you can find a touch of the New World and, no, I’m not talking about tomatoes… Amid warm, rocky terrains, adorned by the sun’s brilliant touch, we find a plant that seems oddly out of place: the prickly pear. 

This intriguing botanical transplant, known in Italian as fico d’India, or “Indian fig,” makes us think of the tropics in the heart of the Mediterranean. Originally a native of the arid regions of Central and South America, the prickly pear found an unexpected second home in Italy.