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Four curious cacti

Pincushion cactus

Found in Southern Canada, this cactus can survive being covered by snów for months at a time.

Rosę cactus

A close relative of the very first cacti, this has leaves and looks morę like an orange bush than its desert cousins.

Christmas cactus

In the wild, this cactus grows in the rain forests of Brazil. It’s a favorite house plant around Christmas time.

Queen of the night

This cactus is known for its sweet-smelling flowers, which only fully open for two hours at night.

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Hen-and-chickens are so-called because new plantlets develop in a cluster around the parent plant, like chicks around a hen. They grow Iow to the ground.

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The rangers of Saguaro National Park in Arizona, are putting microchips into large roadside cacti. They are trying to deter cactus rustlers, who sell stolen saguaros to plant nurseries and homeowners.

Ten uses for

a saguaro

For centuries, the people who live in and around the Sonoran Desert have found uses for saguaro cacti:

^^k The strong woody ribs have I built shelters, fences, lances, arrows, drills, and toys.

Parts of the cactus give up I Chemicals that can tan leather or waterproof clothing and tents.

J^»k The figlike fruit can be eaten I raw or cooked, or turned into jelly or syrup.

The fruit are also fermented I to make saguaro winę.

^k The Hohokam people HI decorated seashells with saguaro juice vinegar around 1200 ce.

^k Saguaro fruit juice is an HI ingredient sometimes used in traditional medicines.

^k Saguaro seeds are pressed for U cooking oils, milled for flour, or fed to chickens.

The spines are used as needles for tattooing and sewing.

The bloom of the saguaro is the State flower of Arizona.

The saguaro has also starred in countless Westerns.

9.8 ft

(12 m) The height of a fully grown giant saguaro cactus - about the same as a three-story house

165 gallons

(750 liters) How much water the roots of a saguaro cactus can soak up during a single rainfall

40 million

The number of seeds that a saguaro cactus produces during its lifetime

2,000

The number of known cactus species

Yuccas belong to a family of desert plants known as agaves. They storę water in their tali, swordlike leaves.

Stone plants grow partially buried in the ground, which helps prevent water loss. Some only need water two or three times per year, but they do grow extremely slowly.

Six threats to saguaro cacti

o, Animals eat the cactus 'f' seeds and seedlings.

Seedlings may be ^/T^S trampled by cattle and other livestock.

^ Big freezes wipe out ^/T^ thousands of plants.

u, If a lightning bolt ^ cracks a saguaro, the plant may rot inside.

^ Severe droughts T weaken and kill cacti.

^ Wildfires can wipe out large forests of

The welwitschia of the Namib Desert can live for 2,000 years. Dew runs off its two leaves and is taken up by the 10-ft- (3-m-) long roots.

WEIRD -ORWHAT? ¹

The jumping cholla is a cactus with stems that fali off so easily that they seem to jump out and bite you when you pass by!