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. Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage with the lowest possible surface area for water loss from transpiration. Because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, and only then using it in photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon dioxide enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis, but instead occurs at night. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a special mechanism called " crassulacean acid metabolism" (CAM) as part of photosynthesis. Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by retention over long drought periods. Many cacti have short growing seasons and long dormancies and are able to react quickly to any rainfall, helped by an extensive but relatively shallow root system that quickly absorbs any water reaching the ground surface. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular and multipetaled. Areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north-except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which also grows in Africa and Sri Lanka.Ĭactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water.
Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. 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. The Jordan Valley district of Tubas is one of the West Bank’s most important agricultural centers.Many species of cactus have long, sharp spines, like this Opuntia.Ī 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. Palestinian residents of the Jordan Valley regularly face evacuations and interruption due to Israeli military exercises on or near their land.
The unpredictability of the training drills leaves rural Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley anxious about when they will be displaced, and whether the next time will be permanent. IOF cuts down 200 cactus seedlings in Jordan Valley Soldiers Destroy Hundreds of Cactus Seedlings in Northern Jordan Valley /6TGt2WX3Wwīisharat added that the seedlings belong to local resident Faris Sawafta in Bardala in the Jordan Valley.įorming a third of the occupied West Bank and with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C, the Jordan Valley has long been a strategic area of land unlikely to return to Palestinians following Israel’s occupation in 1967. Israeli forces uprooted hundreds of cactus seedlings belonging to a Palestinian resident in the Bardala village in the northern occupied West Bank, on Tuesday afternoon.Ī Palestinian official in charge of Jordan Valley’s Jewish settlements file at the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mutaz Bisharat, said that Israeli forces uprooted 200 five-month-old cactus seedlings.