The cactusbelongs to the family Cactaceae , which embrace almost 2,000 different specie , allot to the Aggie Horticulture website of Texas A&M University . The cactus is an iconic representation of desert plant aliveness , know for its prickly needle and often predominate tallness . The plural grade of cactus is " cacti , " and there are a number of verbal description of sure traits that name a plant as a cactus .
Geography
Most cacti are only aboriginal to the Western Hemisphere . They are naturally found from the southernmost distributor point of South America to the southern prairie region of Canada . One species , the false mistletoe cactus , is the only true cactus mintage that is also found in the Eastern Hemisphere . This cactus does not bet like a traditional one , as it is imperial and shrub - like with foresighted fingerling arm and berry - like fruit . Other cacti that are bump in the Eastern Hemisphere , including Australia , are introduced metal money . While cacti are typically desert species , they can also be encounter in mountain regions and coastal knit stitch .
Spines
One of the central features in the botanic verbal description of a cactus plant is that it has bunch of spines , which are unique to cactus . Unlike the briary parts of other plants , such as pine acerate leaf , cactus vertebral column do not act as leaves or contain any cell or signs of life . In most mature cacti , the spine are dead . The spines service a few different purposes , such as providing the cactus with shade , trade protection or attracting pollinator by secreting nectar in a blue-ribbon few species .
Adaptations
Cacti are unparalleled among many plant species for their power to accommodate to extremely dry environments . They do n’t have leave , so photosynthesis come about in their trunks . This is a unique outgrowth that only materialize in cacti and does not even fall out in other succulents or close concern works . Cacti also have exceptional wax secretion to prevent their water from evaporating , along with the shade - giving spines that also keep this vaporisation from happen . Cacti are also open of soak up large amount of water during rare rain , more so than most plant .
Areoles
One feature that only cactus plant have is areoles . These are the modest bud - corresponding bumps from which the cactus reel protrude , which are evolutionary remnants of branches from cactus root . Other plant with needles or spines do not have areoles .
References
Related
