The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word OPUNTIA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
P
U
N
T
I
A
More clues leading to the result OPUNTIA
- Succulent duck put in stews: ace!
- Top of oak stake tipped prime cactus
- Work unit moving a prickly plant
- Prickly sort wrecked uncovered Fiat Punto
- Cactus bursting out, and pain’s involved with it
- One cracking old joke cheers prickly sort
- Prickly-pear? Auntie peeled one after work
- Plant starts operating in America, taking a chance...
- . Work's mostly free on a plant
- Zero chance of one getting a plant
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "prickly plant" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case prickly plant = opuntia.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does OPUNTIA mean?
OPUNTIA noun- Opuntia, a genus of cactus that includes such cacti as the prickly pear and xoconostle.