03-16-2019, 08:01 PM
![[Image: 0ppJ4Y7.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/0ppJ4Y7.jpg)
Just thought I would start a general thread about cacti 
. They're some of the more interesting and unusual plants that exist in the world - as a result of the adaptations that they have to make in order to survive in deserts and other harsh environments. Since many of them live in dry, arid places without much water, they've adapted to store what little water they can find in their fleshy stems. Their other distinguishing feature, of course, is their prickly spines - which serve two distinct purposes. First, and most obviously, they defend the cactus against prey; and secondly, they provide some shade, which in turn helps to conserve that much-needed water.
The cactus that people will most familiar with is the saguaro cactus found in northern Mexico and the south-western United States: it's what pretty much everyone thinks of when they hear the word 'cactus' . However, there are plenty of others: there are 127 genera of cactus in total, which contain around 1750 individual species. Some of the others include the golden barrel cactus, which is pictured at the top of this thread. Then there's the mistletoe cactus, which is the only cactus species which occurs naturally outside the Americas (it's also found in Africa and Sri Lanka). Of course, they are popular in greenhouses or as houseplants, so most of us won't need to go too far to see them!
So, do you have any favourites - and, do you keep any cacti yourself?
. They're some of the more interesting and unusual plants that exist in the world - as a result of the adaptations that they have to make in order to survive in deserts and other harsh environments. Since many of them live in dry, arid places without much water, they've adapted to store what little water they can find in their fleshy stems. Their other distinguishing feature, of course, is their prickly spines - which serve two distinct purposes. First, and most obviously, they defend the cactus against prey; and secondly, they provide some shade, which in turn helps to conserve that much-needed water. The cactus that people will most familiar with is the saguaro cactus found in northern Mexico and the south-western United States: it's what pretty much everyone thinks of when they hear the word 'cactus'
. However, there are plenty of others: there are 127 genera of cactus in total, which contain around 1750 individual species. Some of the others include the golden barrel cactus, which is pictured at the top of this thread. Then there's the mistletoe cactus, which is the only cactus species which occurs naturally outside the Americas (it's also found in Africa and Sri Lanka). Of course, they are popular in greenhouses or as houseplants, so most of us won't need to go too far to see them!So, do you have any favourites - and, do you keep any cacti yourself?
