Cactus Plant

The cactus plant is a member of the Cactaceae family and should not be mistaken for succulents although it is an easy error to make. These two are more or less identical in appearance because they have evolved the same way, so-called parallel evolution, but differ in composition. In reality the cactus plant and the succulent plants are not even related with each other.

The cactus plant is only found in the New world, on the American continent that is, with only one exception.

The cactus plant Rhipsalis baccifera is not only found in the New world but also in the northern parts of Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka which has puzzled scientists for some time. It is though believed that this cactus plant has been carried there by migrating birds for over thousand of years ago, an age not very impressive when it comes to plants in general and therefore makes this a rather young cactus plant in the so-called Old world. One should bear in mind that the cactus plant on the New world has evolved for over 40 million years, now that is a long time!

Adapted to very harsh and dry environments, the cactus plant has an extremely special look to it. Although mostly shaped like a thorny balloon, the cactus plants are just plants, nothing else. The shape of the cactus plant helps it to keep its moist due to low transpiration, which is water evaporating of leaves, and at the same time, the stem is used to store water in for usage during extremely dry seasons. The stem of the cactus plant is also the only place where photosynthesis take place due to the lack of actual leaves. Instead, the leaves have formed into something completely different. To defend the cactus plant from thirsty animals, evolution has seen to it that the cactus plant has spines, almost like thorns, with which it protects itself while at the same time helps cooling it under the gazing sun. The spines are, as you already have guessed, actually former leaves that have evolved for millions of years to suit the cactus plants needs for defence. One might still see leaves on any cactus plant but they will soon wither and fall off. There are just a few cactus plants that still keep its rudimentary leaves.

While leaves do not exist on a cactus plant, flowers may still do on some and they are usually magically beautiful. And of course the fact that many are night blooming makes the magic even more present. This is one of the reasons to why the cactus plant is such a common house or garden plant. Being that the cactus plant will need minimal care is of course also an obvious reason. There are a lot of different kinds of cactus plants for your household, while some will fit in a small pot standing on your bookshelf, there are others that would grow like a tree in your garden, there are even cactus plants that bear eatable fruit. The cactus plant just is a very attractive plant, although you would not want to fall into its spines by accident.

Cactus plant

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