the.com/cactus
a plant that gave up leaves, grew spikes, and dared the desert to try anything
means a spiny, succulent plant native to the Americas, built to store water and survive in arid, sun-blasted places.
from From Latin cactus, lifted from Greek kaktos — but here's the twist: the Greeks weren't naming the American desert plant at all (they'd never seen one), but some prickly, edible thistle of the Mediterranean. When Europeans met the New World's spiny succulents, Linnaeus borrowed the old name and pinned it to these strangers, so the word crossed an ocean and changed plants entirely along the way.
- water tank
- a saguaro can hold a ton of water
- slow rise
- saguaros may take decades to grow one arm
- edible foe
- prickly pear pads and fruit are eaten worldwide
- spines are leaves
- those needles are modified leaves, not thorns
- old timers
- some saguaros live over 150 years
saguaro — iconic tall cactus of sonoran desert arizona, can live 200 years and grow 40 feet tall
barrel cactus — found in mojave and sonoran deserts, stores water and can survive 9+ years without rain
prickly pear opuntia — edible cactus fruit sold commercially in mexico, mediterranean, and middle east since aztec times