is this a flower bud on my Prickly Pear?

I have a Prickly Pear Cactus, and today I noticed a green, hairy lump on the top of the cactus. Is it a flower bud? Is it just another part of the cactus growing? I don't know how these things work.
Thanks!

 

Possibly, but a picture would cinch the ID.

 

Flower buds will be cylindrical and have a pointed tip with bud scales covering the upper part. New pads are flat-sided, except for those species that produce cylindrical stem sections.

 

Ok. Now that it's gotten a little bigger, it's more obvious that it's a new pad because it's getting flat sides. It's still tiny and really cute. hehe :)
A couple more questions... is it possible that if I detach a pad and put it in soil, will it grow? The pad that the new one is growing on is on top of a pad which is on top of another pad, and it's growing out diagonally...it's already top-heavy, so when this little one starts getting bigger the whole cactus will be tipping over because it's in a small plastic pot... so will it be possible to remove the pad that the new one is growing on and put it in its own pot? Or will that kill it?
Also, my cactus is super fuzzy and it doesn't have big spines like the Prickly Pears I've seen in pictures. It just has clusters of very fine fuzz that will get stuck in your skin if you brush against it. Is it a prickly pear or another type of cactus that's similar?

 

Probably still an Opuntia nevertheless, if it has the same shape as a prickly pear. Fully developed pads can be detached and used to make new plants, let them dry a bit (maybe a few days) in the air before inserting in suitable potting soil.

 

Ok, thanks!
And you helped me out with "Opuntia"... I looked it up and I think it's an Opuntia microdasys or "Bunny Ears".

 

No wonder you are concerned about it leaping out of the pot.

 

Oddly, Opuntia flowers can also be rooted. What looks like the base of the flower is in fact stem tissue. If a pad's available, I would of course rather use that.

 

Thanks, Dave. That's interesting.


Wow, now there are 3 more new pads developing! I keep it in my cubicle at work, and I have a lot of plants that really thrive in here. I think it's the lighting conditions. I have a window cubicle at a NW facing window.
I'm posting a picture. You can see the new pad on the top right, and there's one coming in on the top right pad in back, one on the top of the bottom left in the front, and one on the lower left side of the bottom pad in the back. hehe How exciting. :oD

 

I'm impressed that your prickly pear is thriving with relatively little sun. The one I started from a flower lived on a sunny south-facing windowsill for years, but never thrived until it was moved outdoors (and to a place with a warmer winter climate). But it's a tropical Florida Keys species, not one of the prickly pears that's widely cultivated. And of course some prickly pears aren't at all tropical. Opuntia polyacantha lives in British Columbia and Alberta.

 

My cubicle is roughly 8'x10' and one whole wall is a window, so it's very bright all day and gets direct sunlight in the late afternoon. So it only gets direct sun later in the day, but it's still always very bright. Even my prayer plant bloomed this year! I didn't even know it was a flowering plant, so that was a nice surprise.