the.com/succulent
a plant that hoards water like it's preparing for a desert apocalypse, because it is
means Juicy and tender, full of moisture in a way that's pleasurable to eat or bite into — and, by extension, the name for fat-leaved plants that store water in their thick tissues.
from From Latin succulentus, 'full of juice,' built on succus (also spelled sucus), meaning 'juice' or 'sap.' That root is a cousin of sugere, 'to suck' — the same family that feeds words like 'suck' and 'suction.' So a succulent is, quite literally, something brimming with the liquid you'd want to draw out, whether that's a peach or a desert plant clutching its hoarded water.
- water tank
- Some store enough to survive months of drought
- night breather
- Many open pores only after dark to save water
- survival pivot
- Evolved fat leaves independently across many plant families
- clone army
- A single fallen leaf can grow a whole plant
- sunburn risk
- Too much sun actually scorches them brown
aloe vera — medicinal plant native to arabian peninsula, used for 4000+ years
jade plant — crassula ovata from south africa, symbol of prosperity in feng shui
saguaro cactus — iconic 40-foot tall succulent of arizona sonoran desert, can live 200 years