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What Kingdom is a cactus?
PlantCactus / KingdomPlants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes. Wikipedia
What category is cactus?
Cactus is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Caryophyllales, family Cactaceae.
Is cactus a tree?
Cactus plants have soft stems, whereas a tree has woody stems, which makes clear the fact that a cactus is not a tree. The smaller cacti are also pretty small and are nothing of the height of a tree, hence a cactus cannot be considered as a tree. Cacti are succulent plants.
What is the common name of cactus?
Common name equivalents of some Cacti and SucculentsScientific nameCommon nameGymnocalyciumchin-cactus; spider cactusSchlumbergera bridgesiiChristmas cactusSedum rubrotinctumChristmas cheerOpuntia microdasys var. rufidacinnamon cactus235 more rows
Is cactus a shrub or herb?
Cactus is a shrub and a xerophyte .
Is a cactus a gymnosperm or angiosperm?
Cactus is a succulent belonging to the family Cactaceae. It has modified leaves into spines to reduce water loss via transpiration (loss of water through stomatal pores due to evaporation). The Cactus is a gymnosperm.
What order is a cactus in?
CaryophyllalesCactus / OrderCaryophyllales is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, beets, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves. Wikipedia
Is a cactus a succulent?
Cactus (cacti is the Latin plural of cactus) is simply a succulent that can store moisture but is placed in a separate category (Cactaceae).
What are cactus flowers?
Like their spines, cactus flowers are variable. Typically, the ovary is surrounded by material derived from stem or receptacle tissue, forming a structure called a pericarpel. Tissue derived from the petals and sepals continues the pericarpel, forming a composite tube—the whole may be called a floral tube, although strictly speaking only the part furthest from the base is floral in origin. The outside of the tubular structure often has areoles that produce wool and spines. Typically, the tube also has small scale-like bracts, which gradually change into sepal-like and then petal-like structures, so the sepals and petals cannot be clearly differentiated (and hence are often called " tepals "). Some cacti produce floral tubes without wool or spines (e.g. Gymnocalycium) or completely devoid of any external structures (e.g. Mammillaria ). Unlike the flowers of most other cacti, Pereskia flowers may be borne in clusters.
What are the spines of cactus?
Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch. Areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular and multipetaled.
What are cacti like?
In most other cacti, the branches are more typically cactus-like, bare of leaves and bark, and covered with spines, as in Pachycereus pringlei or the larger opuntias. Some cacti may become tree-sized but without branches, such as larger specimens of Echinocactus platyacanthus. Cacti may also be described as shrubby, with several stems coming from the ground or from branches very low down, such as in Stenocereus thurberi.
How tall is the smallest cactus?
The tallest free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m (63 ft), and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter at maturity.
Where do cacti grow?
Cacti are often grown in greenhouses, particularly in regions unsuited to the cultivation of cacti outdoors, such the northern parts of Europe and North America. Here, they may be kept in pots or grown in the ground. Cacti are also grown as houseplants, many being tolerant of the often dry atmosphere. Cacti in pots may be placed outside in the summer to ornament gardens or patios, and then kept under cover during the winter. Less drought-resistant epiphytes, such as epiphyllum hybrids, Schlumbergera (the Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus) and Hatiora (the Easter cactus), are widely cultivated as houseplants.
What is a cactus in Singapore?
Many species of cactus have long, sharp spines, like this Opuntia. A cactus (plural cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species ...
Where did the word "cactus" come from?
The word "cactus" derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος, kaktos, a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought.
How many panels are there in the Cactus Dome?
The result: an enormous, foot-and-a-half-thick, 100,000-square-foot dome consisting of 358 gigantic concrete panels. Despite signs warning off visitors, it is still possible to make landfall on Runit and stomp across the Cactus Dome. It is recommended that you don’t.
How big is the crater of the cactus?
Its resting place would be in a 350-foot wide crater that had been created two decades earlier by an 18-kiloton nuclear test code-named Cactus. Covering up that giant radioactive pit cost the government nearly a quarter of a billion dollars and took three years to complete.
How to identify a cactus?
Cactus identification is usually based on their shape, blooming habits, and spines or hairs. Cacti can have a spherical, columnar, cylindrical, or disc shape and typically have characteristic areoles (small bumps) where sharp or soft spines grow. All types of cactus flower, and you can tell the species depending on when it blooms.
Where do Christmas cactus live?
A very popular indoor type of cactus is the Christmas cactus (name: Schlumbergera) that is native to tropical regions in Brazil.
What cactus can I plant in the desert?
Some good choices of desert cactus types for growing outside are the Arizona Barrel Cactus, the Prickly Pear, and the Old Man Cactus.
How big does a powder puff cactus get?
The spherical cactus will grow to between 3” and 5” (7.5 – 12 cm) high and about the same in diameter.
How many hours of darkness does a Christmas cactus need?
To ensure the Christmas cactus flowers, it needs to be in cool conditions with little water and get 12 – 14 hours of darkness every day.
How tall does a bunny ear cactus grow?
This type of cactus houseplant looks comical with its green pads that resemble rabbit’s ears. The indoor cactus can grow around 15” to 23” (40 – 60 cm) tall. However, as with most cacti, the Bunny Ears cactus is slow-growing and a small type of plant will take a few years to reach this height.
What is the name of the old lady cactus?
The Old Lady cactus (name: Mammillaria hahniana) is a large, spherical type of cactus that is covered in spikes and fine spines.
How many species are there in the Cactaceae family?
The Cactaceae family includes several species of economic importance. The family has over 1450 species and c. 127 genera, with the greatest species richness being observed in Mexico ( Hernández-Hernández et al., 2011 ). Nopalea comes from “nopal”, a local Mexican name for cactus, and cochenillifera refers to the cochineal insect cultivated on these plants for producing a red colour dye ( Downs, 1965 ).
Who wrote the cytological study of the cactaceae of Puerto Rico?
Spencer JL , 1955. A cytological study of the Cactaceae of Puerto Rico. In: Botanical Gazette, 117 (1) 33-37.
How tall do saguaro cactus get?
Saguaros grow from 3–16 m (10–52 ft) tall, and up to 75 cm (30 in) in diameter. They are slow growing, but routinely live 150 to 200 years. They are the largest cactus in the United States. A many armed saguaro in Tucson, AZ.
What tribe is Carnegiea gigantea?
What tribe Carnegiea gigantea belongs to is a matter of taxonomic dispute. A molecular analysis of the cactus family in 2010 placed the saguaro in the Echinocereinae. The ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network places it in the Echinocereeae.
Why is the Saguaro blossom called the Saguaro?
Its scientific name is given in honor of Andrew Carnegie. In 1994, Saguaro National Park, near Tucson, Arizona, was designated to help protect this species and its habitat. Some saguaros are cristate or "crested" due to fasciation.
Where are saguaros found?
Though the geographic anomaly has lessened in recent years, Western films once enthusiastically placed saguaros in the Monument Valley of Arizona, as well as New Mexico, Utah, and Texas. The Dallas, Texas-based band Reverend Horton Heat pokes fun at this phenomenon in their song "Ain't no Saguaro in Texas".
What is the role of a saguaro in the ecosystem?
The saguaro is a keystone species, and provides food, shelter, and protection to hundreds of other species. Every stage of the saguaro's life sustains a significant number of species, from seedling to after its death.
Overview
A cactus (plural cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur i…
Morphology
The 1,500 to 1,800 species of cacti mostly fall into one of two groups of "core cacti": opuntias (subfamily Opuntioideae) and "cactoids" (subfamily Cactoideae). Most members of these two groups are easily recognizable as cacti. They have fleshy succulent stems that are major organs of photosynthesis. They have absent, small, or transient leaves. They have flowers with ovaries that lie below the sepals
Adaptations for water conservation
All cacti have some adaptations to promote efficient water use. Most cacti—opuntias and cactoids—specialize in surviving in hot and dry environments (i.e. are xerophytes), but the first ancestors of modern cacti were already adapted to periods of intermittent drought. A small number of cactus species in the tribes Hylocereeae and Rhipsalideae have become adapted to life as climbers or epiphytes, often in tropical forests, where water conservation is less important.
Taxonomy and classification
Naming and classifying cacti has been both difficult and controversial since the first cacti were discovered for science. The difficulties began with Carl Linnaeus. In 1737, he placed the cacti he knew into two genera, Cactus and Pereskia. However, when he published Species Plantarum in 1753—the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature—he relegated them all to one genus, Cactus. …
Phylogeny and evolution
A 2005 study suggested the genus Pereskia as then circumscribed (Pereskia sensu lato) was basal within the Cactaceae, but confirmed earlier suggestions it was not monophyletic, i.e., did not include all the descendants of a common ancestor. The Bayesian consensus cladogram from this study is shown below with subsequent generic changes added.
Distribution
Cacti inhabit diverse regions, from coastal plains to high mountain areas. With one exception, they are native to the Americas, where their range extends from Patagonia to British Columbia and Alberta in western Canada. A number of centers of diversity exist. For cacti adapted to drought, the three main centers are Mexico and the southwestern United States; the southwestern Andes, where th…
Reproductive ecology
Cactus flowers are pollinated by insects, birds and bats. None are known to be wind-pollinated and self-pollination occurs in only a very few species; for example the flowers of some species of Frailea do not open (cleistogamy). The need to attract pollinators has led to the evolution of pollination syndromes, which are defined as groups of "floral traits, including rewards, associated wit…
Uses
As of March 2012 , there is still controversy as to the precise dates when humans first entered those areas of the New World where cacti are commonly found, and hence when they might first have used them. An archaeological site in Chile has been dated to around 15,000 years ago, suggesting cacti would have been encountered before then. Early evidence of the use of cacti includes cav…