Interesting facts about cacti. Facts about cacti

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1 The modern name “cactus” for this type of plant was invented by Carl Linnaeus. It comes from the ancient Greek word "kaktos", which was the designation of any plant with thorns.

2 The great discoverer Christopher Columbus in his notes tells that the aborigines he met ate melon. In fact, the American Indians tasted the cactus.

3 The cactus family includes 2.5 thousand plant species.

4 Cacti are raw materials for the production of alcoholic beverages, shampoos, sweets, vitamins, soap and many other things. Production waste is fed to cattle.

5 The smallest representatives of the cactus family are Blossfeldia, whose height reaches only 1-3 centimeters.

6 The largest cacti in the world are the giant Californian cereus, whose age can reach one and a half hundred years, and their height is 20 meters. The stems of such cacti contain up to 2 tons of fresh water suitable for drinking.

7 In Mexico, farmers feed dethorned prickly pears to cows to help them produce more milk.

8 In Paraguay and Bolivia, cacti of the species Neowerdermannia/Weingartia are on the verge of extinction. The fact is that when baked, they are considered real delicacies among the locals. In Mexico, one of the favorite sweets is candied slices of the Melocactus oaxacensis cactus.

9 The only open-air cactus garden in the world can be visited in Monte Carlo.

10 In the Australian town of Bunarg, a monument to the Argentine moth was erected, since this insect saved Australia from the excessive spread of prickly pear cacti, which had a detrimental effect on local livestock farming - livestock ate the cacti along with the needles, and then died from them.

11In 1956, one Brazilian resident found himself with 267 cactus needles in 15 seconds. No one has yet managed to surpass this dubious record.

12 Lophophora Williams is revered as a divine plant by many Indian tribes in Latin America. The Indians are sure that when you meet this cactus you must say hello, otherwise the plant will be offended and send damage to the impolite person.

13 Sterilized cactus needles were used in the past by doctors in Latin America to stitch wounds.

14 Donkeys in South America know how to knock thorns off cacti with their hooves, so that they can then calmly eat them. European animals do not have such skills.

15 For some reason, dogs and wolves do not like cacti and are even afraid of them.

16 Scientists have proven that cactus spines ionize the air.

17 Contrary to popular belief, tequila is not made from cacti.

More than two thousand species of cacti are known, of all shapes and sizes.

The Caldera cactus, which is found in the southwestern United States, can grow up to 20 meters in height, while the Rebutia cactus barely reaches a few centimeters. This baby grows mainly in Argentina and Bolivia. Some types of cacti look like candelabra or columns, others are flattened, there are plants that look like an ear (Opuntia). There are even cacti that look like a coiled snake or a beer keg, a starfish and even a wrinkled human face.

Even the smallest cactus has a powerful, developed root system that can spread both deep and shallow below the surface. Cactus flowers are also worthy of special mention - they can be white (Cereus), red, pink, purple or yellow. Flowers on a cactus can bloom for several days, or they can bloom and fade within one day. Some flowers bloom at dawn, others at sunset...

Depending on the species, cactus needles can be tender and vulnerable, or they can be hard and poisonous, reaching a length of several centimeters.

cacti pollinated by insects and small birds (hummingbirds). Some cacti with red flowers emit a special “meaty” smell that attracts insects.

The roots of the Mexican peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) were and are used by the natives for their hallucinogenic properties. Residents make a drink from the roots of the plant, with which shamans enter a state of trance. The reason for this effect of peyote is the alkaloid mescaline. There was also a beneficial use for the hallucinogenic drink - the Indians often used it as an anesthetic during surgical operations.

A cactus is an ideal water reservoir. The water in it is not stored in its pure form, but as a thick syrup that can be drunk. It is unknown how many lives cacti saved for travelers in the desert... Water is easily obtained from cacti - just scratch or puncture the shell of the plant.

The most heat-resistant plants on Earth are cacti; they survive at 60 degrees of heat. Being desert plants, cacti, over the course of a long development process, have turned their trunks into reservoirs in which sometimes several tons of moisture accumulate. To reduce evaporation, the trunks of the cacti were covered with a waxy coating, and the leaves changed into spines.

The trunk of some cactus species is used to make Argentine drums called bombo leguero. The wood of some cacti is used in the construction of walls, roofs or load-bearing elements. The fruits of other types of cacti, such as Opuntia phaeacantha, are edible and are called prickly pear. The fruit of the Peruvian cactus Cereus repandus is called a cactus apple and has no spines. Locals often make syrup from cactus fruits.

Cactus needles are used for suturing, for which they are sterilized over hot coals. This, of course, happened before, I think that nowadays they still use a more modern tool.

The saguaro cactus has become the state symbol of Arizona.

Cacti have several periods - growth, flowering, rest. While growing, they prefer bright sunlight, high temperature and humidity. Light causes rapid growth of the cactus body and spines. During rest periods, plants prefer coolness (6-8 degrees), diffused light and low humidity (maximum one watering per week).

Cacti are propagated by seeds (not indoors) and cuttings. Cuttings are carried out in warm sand with average humidity, after which the plant is left to rest for a week - this prevents rotting during the transplantation process.

A moth monument was erected. In the 1920s, a South American cactus spread catastrophically here, and the only one that was able to cope with it was the introduced Argentine cactus moth, a natural enemy of the plant.

It is a myth that a cactus blooms only once in its life. This is just a beautiful legend. If the plant is healthy, it blooms every summer.

Various delicacies are made from cacti, their fruits are sold in markets, Indian tribes use it as medicine and also as a drug to enter a stupefying state for rituals. Cactus fruits are eaten raw, jams and compotes, unusual-tasting creams and jams are made from them, they are added to wine for color and aroma, and stewed with meat in the form of a stew.

Cacti from the North American Chihuahuan Desert fight high temperatures and lack of moisture by plunging into the ground.

Cacti from the genus Echinopsis resemble giant hedgehogs; they are up to two meters in diameter and about five meters high. This spiky ball weighs several tons.

Until 1978, the tallest cactus on Earth was considered the saguaro, whose height reached 24 meters, but it was toppled by a storm.

Dogs are very afraid of cacti. The settlers of the Wild West took full advantage of this to protect themselves from coyotes. They planted cactus thickets around their settlement and thus the protective flower prevented coyotes from getting into their houses.

Aphids are bred on cacti, from which food coloring is obtained.

The homeland of cacti is Central, South and North America. Cacti, as a miracle of nature, were brought to Europe by Columbus and spread widely.

Saguaro is under the protection of the US government and is punishable by up to 25 years in prison for harming him.

Cacti do grow better in conditions of increased electromagnetic radiation, but the idea that the plant absorbs radiation is highly controversial. However, the spines still serve as an air ionizer, this is a proven fact.

Since ancient times, in Russian houses on the windows there have been flowers of the epiphyllum cactus, similar to small flying birds, called the Varvarin flower in Russia because it blooms in December, on Varvarin Day.

There is still no reference book for cactus growers with a description of all types and varieties in Russian. Cactus lovers still use the old German reference book by Kurt Beneberg and Walter Hage, or small reference books with the main species.

Currently, scientists are doing a lot of work on the use of cacti in industry. Research has shown that vitamins, hormones, wines and liqueurs, soap, industrial alcohol, a substance that accelerates fermentation, and much more can be obtained from cacti. The waste does not go to waste either - it is used as animal feed.

The famous purple dye, which gave a royal crimson color to the clothes of nobles, was also made with the help of cacti. Opuntia plantations, sometimes huge, up to 60,000 plants, were created to breed the hairy aphid - cochineal, from which purple dye was extracted through processing. Before chemical dyes took over the markets, cochineal was highly valued, and there were many aphid farms.

The less you touch the cacti, the better. They suffer from frequent rearrangements and rotations: they lose their beautiful spines and do not bloom. Most often this happens to novice collectors who “drag” their cacti.

Cacti do not like changing conditions. That is why you should never get carried away with searching for non-existent “panaceas” and “secrets”. The associated incessant changes in soil, regime, arrangement, etc. extremely quickly lead to deterioration, or even complete destruction of the collection.

If you want to achieve success in breeding cacti and admire their wonderful flowers, you must not be afraid of your pets, you must learn to pick them up, replant them, wash them and treat them. A collector who approaches his cacti with caution will never achieve success: lest he inject himself!

In the conditions of low-sunny winters in the middle zone, each cactus, no matter how sun-loving it may be, requires gradual acclimation to the sun in the spring in order to avoid ugly and dangerous burns of the stem. The arguments in favor of building a greenhouse thus become stronger.

Cacti grow well in nature in direct sun. In indoor culture, some unprotected (naked) species require shading, but they also need light. Those cactus owners who place their plants in the back of their rooms on cabinets and bookshelves interspersed with figurines and ceramics are slowly killing them.

In some areas of Mexico, prickly pears, cleared of thorns and glochidia and chopped, are used as livestock feed with such good results in increasing the milk yield of cows that dense thickets of prickly pears are completely exterminated in places and farmers travel tens of kilometers to get them.

Cacti must overwinter in dry and cold conditions. The first real watering should be done only after the clear beginning of the growing season. Plants that have overwintered in the dark should gradually get used to the sun. In the spring, you should not wake them up with abundant watering, but only gradually irrigate them with warm water.

You might think: since cacti are desert dwellers, they are afraid of water. Firstly, not all cacti are dry-loving, and secondly, even the most dry-loving species need to be given plenty of water during their growth: they need it not only for nutrition, but also for cooling the stem through evaporation.

A cactus that does not grow in summer often dies in winter. A non-growing cactus is half dead, although some species can remain in this half-dead state for several years. In order not to lose a non-growing specimen, it is necessary to find out the reason why it does not grow (most often it is the loss of roots) and take the necessary measures.

In the countries of North and South America, where cacti grow “like grass,” mules and donkeys have perfectly adapted to independently knock off cactus spines with their hooves in order to enjoy the tasty stem without interference.

Certain species of melocactus and echinocactus (Melocactus oaxacensis, Echinocactus ingens) are eaten candied, the former is even popularly called Candy cactus. The stems are cleared of thorns and skin, cut into slices and boiled in cane sugar syrup. The demand for these candied fruits especially increases with the approach of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Those who believe that the less often cacti are replanted, the better they grow, are wrong; they must be replanted every year! A correctly done transplant is not only not harmful to cacti, but, on the contrary, sharply stimulates the growth of roots and stems.

Contrary to the widespread prejudice that a cactus blooms once in its life, after which it dies, a healthy and mature cactus can and should bloom every summer without any harm to itself. It will become depleted only if it sets a lot of fruits; in such cases, it is better to remove some of the berries as soon as they set.

A series of experiments was conducted at one of the Californian universities. Twenty species of cacti from a wide variety of species have been studied as sources of antibiotics. It turned out that each cactus suppressed the development of several microorganisms, and lophophora showed the ability to stop the development of seventeen out of twenty microorganisms, and the diameter of the zone of action of this cactus turned out to be the largest; peleciphora took the second place in terms of strength of action.

The interest of doctors in the medicinal properties of cacti arose around the middle of the 19th century, when physiologists and doctors began to conduct experiments to study the healing properties of alkaloids contained in the tissues of cacti of various kinds - Cereus, Echinocactus and Ariocarpus. More than twenty scientific papers have been devoted to Selenicereus grandiflorus alone.

During the Spanish rule in Mexico, the Catholic Church brutally attacked the lophophora cactus, lophophora was counted among the mortal sins, and for eating it, the priests threatened not only with eternal fire, but also with bonfires on the ground. In the surviving missionary’s breviary there are two questions for confession, the following one after another: “Have you eaten human flesh? Have you eaten peyote?” (peyote was called lophophora).

Cacti, interesting and educational facts

Cactus needles were previously used for sutures, before they were sterilized over hot coals.

A moth monument has been erected in Australia. In the 1920s, a South American cactus spread catastrophically here, and the only one that was able to cope with it was the introduced Argentine cactus moth, a natural enemy of the plant.

It is a myth that a cactus blooms only once in its life. This is just a beautiful legend. If the plant is healthy, it blooms every summer.

Some cacti with red flowers emit a special “meaty” smell that attracts insects.

The saguaro cactus has become the state symbol of Arizona.

Cacti from the North American Chihuahuan Desert fight high temperatures and lack of moisture by plunging into the ground.

Cacti from the genus Echinopsis resemble giant hedgehogs; they are up to two meters in diameter and about five meters high. This spiky ball weighs several tons.

Even the smallest cactus has a powerful, developed root system that can spread both deep and shallow below the surface. Cactus flowers are also worthy of special mention - they can be white (Cereus), red, pink, purple or yellow. Flowers on a cactus can bloom for several days, or they can bloom and fade within one day. Some flowers bloom at dawn, others at sunset...

The trunk of some cactus species is used to make Argentine drums called bombo leguero.

Until 1978, the tallest cactus on Earth was considered the saguaro, whose height reached 24 meters, but it was toppled by a storm.

Aphids are bred on cacti, from which food coloring is obtained.

The homeland of cacti is Central, South and North America. Cacti, as a miracle of nature, were brought to Europe by Columbus and spread widely.

Saguaro is under the protection of the US government and is punishable by up to 25 years in prison for harming him.

Depending on the species, cactus needles can be tender and vulnerable, or they can be hard and poisonous, reaching a length of several centimeters.

There are cacti that look like a coiled snake or a beer keg, a starfish, and even a wrinkled human face.

The fruits of some cacti are edible; they are very large, juicy and tasty. The yellow and red fruits look like a pear covered with small thorns. There are cacti that taste like strawberries and are used to make soft drinks.