Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
There's a deadly menace on the Australian opal fields, it's nasty, has two-inch spines and it kills.
Hudson Pear is an invasive cactus species that has unfortunately infested large areas of the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, NSW, Australia. It has also spread to the other Australian opal fields, and is spreading throughout the rest of the country.
In the first video in the Bush Botany series, featuring Warwick Schofield, we look at Hudson Pear. Its origins, its biology, its interaction with humans and animals, its impact on the opal fields, its future spread. We also look at methods of controlling the cactus outbreak, past and present, and how YOU can help to contain and limit the spread of this vicious plant.
00:00 Introduction
01:46 Hudson Pear
05:50 A Vicious and Deadly Cactus
10:15 Deadly or Deadliest?
11:47 What's in a Name?
13:54 Elimination Strategies
21:53 What You Can Do
26:22 The Pointy End
27:02 Acknowledgements
This video was made with the assistance of Warwick Schofield, Andy and Mat at Castlereagh Macquarie County Council and Shaun Galman, with acknowledgements to Margaret Schofield, Kay Wotherspoon and Susan Keckes.
Hudson Pear on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_rosea
(Note the scientific name has not been updated on Wikipedia at time of posting, link may break if the details are corrected.)
An absolutely gorgeous stacked microscope capture of the spines on a jumping cholla (USA), Cylindropuntia fulgida:
flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/3913614947/in/photolist-6WpUDc-6XQNHq-6WMmjV-6WMsjK-6WujQw-6XQinM-6X8vi6-6Xcvs9-6kQ3j7-gbfKqW-6WpWd4-5YoRea-gbfLcq-5Yq533-5YqY9Q-5YkvHz-by6CkS-7SNF95-76PDa1
(This is NOT the same Cylindropuntia species as Hudson Pear, but the barbed spines are similar.)
Contact your local weeds officer:
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/cacti/north-west-regional-weed-officers.html
Resources provided by CMCC and Northern Slopes Landcare:
• Resources index:
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/cacti/resources.html
• Hudson pear You Tube videos - youtube.com/watch?v=8yNhOKsrTac&list=PLm%20Srgp-AUIktRkaObd2twzqzkuYlR%20t%20u4W
• Seen This Plant? Hudson pear - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/SeenThis_HudsonPear_HIGHRes.pdf
• Biological Control of Hudson pear - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/%20Cacti/CochinealBiocontrol_Hudsonpear_HIGHRes.pdf
• Come clean, go clean - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/Tourism%20Cacti_DLfolded_HIGHRes.pdf
• Invasive cacti in the north west region of NSW - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.a
Invasive cacti field guide -
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/5537_%20Cacti_Booklet_VeryFINAL_WEB.pdf
--
Images used:
cochineal by orgidie (CC BY-NC 2.0): https://flic.kr/p/MHNW7
bugs by kweez mcG (CC BY 2.0): https://flic.kr/p/7Gb85J
IDU theme remixed by fraxyl
Deadly Cactus Sonata, Knife Fight with Feeling & Asleep in the Background by fraxyl
fraxyl.bandcamp.com
Other music by Russell Gawthorpe: soundcloud.com/datazoid
--
Follow Curiosity Mine on...
Facebook: facebook.com/curiositymine
Twitter: twitter.com/curiositymine
Instagram: instagram.com/curiosity.mine
The web: curiositymine.com
Thank YOU for watching!
#lightningridge #hudsonpear #bushbotany
There's a deadly menace on the Australian opal fields, it's nasty, has two-inch spines and it kills.
Hudson Pear is an invasive cactus species that has unfortunately infested large areas of the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, NSW, Australia. It has also spread to the other Australian opal fields, and is spreading throughout the rest of the country.
In the first video in the Bush Botany series, featuring Warwick Schofield, we look at Hudson Pear. Its origins, its biology, its interaction with humans and animals, its impact on the opal fields, its future spread. We also look at methods of controlling the cactus outbreak, past and present, and how YOU can help to contain and limit the spread of this vicious plant.
00:00 Introduction
01:46 Hudson Pear
05:50 A Vicious and Deadly Cactus
10:15 Deadly or Deadliest?
11:47 What's in a Name?
13:54 Elimination Strategies
21:53 What You Can Do
26:22 The Pointy End
27:02 Acknowledgements
This video was made with the assistance of Warwick Schofield, Andy and Mat at Castlereagh Macquarie County Council and Shaun Galman, with acknowledgements to Margaret Schofield, Kay Wotherspoon and Susan Keckes.
Hudson Pear on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_rosea
(Note the scientific name has not been updated on Wikipedia at time of posting, link may break if the details are corrected.)
An absolutely gorgeous stacked microscope capture of the spines on a jumping cholla (USA), Cylindropuntia fulgida:
flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/3913614947/in/photolist-6WpUDc-6XQNHq-6WMmjV-6WMsjK-6WujQw-6XQinM-6X8vi6-6Xcvs9-6kQ3j7-gbfKqW-6WpWd4-5YoRea-gbfLcq-5Yq533-5YqY9Q-5YkvHz-by6CkS-7SNF95-76PDa1
(This is NOT the same Cylindropuntia species as Hudson Pear, but the barbed spines are similar.)
Contact your local weeds officer:
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/cacti/north-west-regional-weed-officers.html
Resources provided by CMCC and Northern Slopes Landcare:
• Resources index:
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/cacti/resources.html
• Hudson pear You Tube videos - youtube.com/watch?v=8yNhOKsrTac&list=PLm%20Srgp-AUIktRkaObd2twzqzkuYlR%20t%20u4W
• Seen This Plant? Hudson pear - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/SeenThis_HudsonPear_HIGHRes.pdf
• Biological Control of Hudson pear - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/%20Cacti/CochinealBiocontrol_Hudsonpear_HIGHRes.pdf
• Come clean, go clean - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/Tourism%20Cacti_DLfolded_HIGHRes.pdf
• Invasive cacti in the north west region of NSW - https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.a
Invasive cacti field guide -
https://www.northernslopeslandcare.com.au/images/Cacti/5537_%20Cacti_Booklet_VeryFINAL_WEB.pdf
--
Images used:
cochineal by orgidie (CC BY-NC 2.0): https://flic.kr/p/MHNW7
bugs by kweez mcG (CC BY 2.0): https://flic.kr/p/7Gb85J
IDU theme remixed by fraxyl
Deadly Cactus Sonata, Knife Fight with Feeling & Asleep in the Background by fraxyl
fraxyl.bandcamp.com
Other music by Russell Gawthorpe: soundcloud.com/datazoid
--
Follow Curiosity Mine on...
Facebook: facebook.com/curiositymine
Twitter: twitter.com/curiositymine
Instagram: instagram.com/curiosity.mine
The web: curiositymine.com
Thank YOU for watching!
#lightningridge #hudsonpear #bushbotany
