They are present in hot deserts which are scarce in water so in order to reduce the loss of water by Transpiration from the surface of the leaves, its leaves are reduced to spines.This is a type of adaptation of the plant.
The benefits of cactus spines are similar to the benefits of the thorns and the leavesof herbaceous plants. The spines act the part of thorns in their defense of the cactus plant's stem, growth buds, and breathing pores. They act the part of leaves in their channeling of any available moisture - be it dew, fog, or rainfall - down to the immediate ground around the cactus. From the ground surface, the drops seep into the soil, to be added to the water table or taken in by the cactus plant's roots.
Spines protect the plant from animals that would injure it. They also provide some shade for the stem of the plant.
They have spines for a few reasons. The main two reasons are: 1- Most to all cacti live in hot sunny deserts where they receive a lot of sun. However, the skin of most cacti are sensitive and will get "sunburned" so the spines, believe it or not, give a lot of shade for the cactus. 2-The spines are used for defence against animals,insects,reptiles, etc. They have to defend their moisture inside them from animals who try to drink and eat the cactuses water.
cactus
The term that's synonymous with phylum, in the plant world, is division. So the phylum, or preferentially the division, of cactus plants is Magnoliophyta. It's the division for angiosperms, which also are called flowering plants. Flowering plants may develop from an embryo that has one or two leaves. A cactus is a dicotyledon, because it has two embryonic leaves.
A cactus is a carnivore; they enjoy eating desert foxes and the odd rat or two.
Yes, cactus plants can be infected by cold places. The two main types of cactus plants are the desert cactus and the jungle cactus. The desert cactus handles higher heat and light levels and lower moisture levels. The jungle cactus handles higher heat and humidity levels and lower light levels.But neither type of cactus handles cold, damp temperatures. Chilling temperatures makes a cactus susceptible to all sorts of fungal problems, such as basal stem rot. The cactus' tissue ends up softening and blackening. It has to be dried out or removed.
Plants need butterflies for two main reasons such as pollination. Plants also need butterflies to bring other animals into the ecosystem.
The African welwitchsia manages to survive in the Sahara desert due to its extremely deep roots The African peyote cactus is built with thick stems. The thickness of the stems helps the plant to hold back water for a considerable amount of time. The leaves of the cactus are reduced to spines. This helps in preventing water loss from the stomata, due to evaporation.
There are more than 15 different types of cactus plants. Cactus plants all belong to the cactus family, Cactaceae. But they don't all belong to the same genus, or to the same species. In fact, there are many more than 15 genus and species categories into which a cactus plant may be classified.But all cactus plants fit into one of two broad groups of cactus plants. The group depends upon the native environment. One environment takes in the deserts of North and Latin America. The other takes in Latin America's jungles.
"Cacti" is the plural form of "cactus," which refers to a type of plant known for its thick, fleshy stems and spines. Cacti are adapted to arid environments and are able to store water in their stems to survive in dry conditions.
The ocotillo sprouts leaves a day or two after a good rain in the desert. It blooms in the late winter.