What Is A Cactus?

At this point, you might be wondering what a cactus is. A cactus is a plant that flowers and belongs to the botanical family of Cactaceae. It is such a large family that it contains more than 1700 species known to humankind. Most of these species are succulents. Cactuses are a family of plants that can be found all over the world in places such as America, Africa, Asia, and even Europe.

These cactus plants are known to prefer a desert environment where the plant thrives in harsh conditions. Some cacti look far away from the typical cacti; these are the Christmas cacti type such as (schlumbergera, a Christmas type cactus). If you are lucky enough to own one of these cacti, then take good care of it, it is a unique plant.

Most cacti share the typical characteristics of other succulents, although the plants don’t have many that are unique to the cacti. An excellent example of this is that most cacti are stem succulents with leafless but waxy gree-colored stems. These stems store water while at the same time utilizing the photosynthesis method to survive. Some of the stems might look like leaves, although that is mostly with the Christmas cacti or the Prickly pears. Plants that have multiple stems that look like pads in a way or flattened segments, basically a strange-looking plant.

There are water-saving features that many cacti have to aid in the survival process. These features include the shallow root system that aids in water absorption, the ripped grooved stems, and of course, all cacti have CAM photosynthesis.

Like I have talked about earlier in this post, one of the main features of cacti is the areoles. The Areoles help the cactus to be more efficient while protecting the cacti with its spine. It is not uncommon to see multiple spikes sticking out of a cactus plant, but that is a defensive mechanism for the plant.

If you want an alternative way to identify what could be a true cactus, then look for a beautiful prominent flower feature. It produces fruit, and if it is a blooming succulent, then you don’t have a true cactus. Be sure to look for these features if you want to know if it is a cactus or not.