Is this an opuntia? Can I revive it?

Hi everybody

A couple of weeks ago I rescued some flower pots that one of my neighbours had put out for rehoming, together with this little cactus:


It's about six inches tall and was in a very sorry state at that point, still in its original pot but very dried out, and with its leaves dusty and shrivelled. I thought I'd have a go at reviving it, so repotted it in its original pot but with some extra compost and grit, gave it a good drink, and cut any dead bits off. Two queries:

Am I right in thinking it's an opuntia? Any idea which? The pot still has its sales label but unfortunately that just says 'cactus'!

The leaves are looking a lot better but as you can see the tops of some of them are still bent over and a bit shrivelled. Any chance of those reviving, by now? I've been watering it weekly - perhaps I can do that more frequently for now?

I'm loath to cut the shrivelled leaves as lower down they have little growths which I guess want to become flowers or new leaves .

All help and advice will be most gratefully received!

 

It does look like Opuntia, some weird deformed variety I would guess.
I think you are doing all the right things.
Most Opuntia can take a lot of sunshine, especially if you want flowers.
I have one plant I grew from seed and it's never flowered in over 30 yrs.

 

Hi,
I think it's Opuntia Tuna and looks perfectly fine

I have one and the stems indeed are somewhat bent and wonky when young. Mine even gets stretch marks during rapid growth period.

It's a great houseplant. When it's in growth it seems to like fairly frequent watering, probably the thin stems don't hold much water. In winter mine stays totally dry for 3 months and does look a bit sad, but when spring comes it bursts into growth. Mine hasn't flowered.

 

Brilliant, yes that looks exactly like it, I'm sure you're right @Selleri!
Excellent news that you think it makes a good houseplant, too

I see from that description that it's a type of 'prickly pear' - can remember seeing big plants, even sometimes hedges of those, growing out of doors in the South of France. You could buy the fruits in the market, too. Those needed *very* careful preparation but were actually quite tasty.

 

Here's another photo taken today, to show how much happier it is looking after some extra watering - amazing how quickly the leaves have straightened up and got greener and plumper and shinier. Many thanks to @Selleri and @pete for your good advice!