Cactus found next to tall grass, by the end of the cross-country course.
Height: 5-6 feet, large girth vegetation; Core is severely burnt from past fires, awesome to see the new growth spurt from the dead; Note - no spikes / thorns on any of it until flowering / fruiting stages occur.
Cactaceae, Caryophyllales. Opuntia: maybe from opun, the name of this food in the native language Papago; many from a spiny plant in Opus, Greece. Ficus: fig.