What is "glochid"

n. a form of small, detachable, irritant spine occurring in dense clusters in the Wikipedia:areole of certain cactus such as Wikipedia:Opuntia. Typically glochids are short, straight, and microscopically barbed. When stuck into the skin of anyone touching the plant, they detach and remain in the skin when the victim moves away.

n. a barbed spine or bristle (often tufted on cacti) [syn: glochidium]

Glochids or glochidia (singular "glochidium") are hair-like spines or short prickles, generally barbed, found on the areoles of cacti in the sub-family Opuntioideae. Cactus glochids easily detach from the plant and lodge in the skin, causing irritation upon contact. The tufts of glochids in the areoles nearly cover the stem surfaces of some cactus species, each tuft containing hundreds of glochids; this may be in addition to, or instead of, the larger, more conspicuous cactus spines, which do not readily detach and are not generally barbed.