Many consider the prickly pear as part of the traditional Maltese landscape. Indeed, it even featured in the Maltese coat of arms, from 1975 to 1988.

However, the prickly pear is not truly a native species to the Maltese islands, much less an endemic one. It is actually a "naturalised alien", and originates from the Americas, very much like potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts, pumpkins, squashes and corn (maize).

In fact, this species arrived in Malta after the year 1492, during the time of the Knights, and was soon adopted by Maltese farmers to reinforce the boundaries around their fields, for the purpose of deterring intruders.