Succulents

They are plants having stems and leaves which are thick and contain a LOT of water. A lot of people mix up succulents with cacti. Actually, succulents may not be cacti, but every single kind of cacti is a succulent. Here below is a picture showing the difference between their spines. Cacti have separate areoles for each spine but some succulents are linked altogether.

Other Succulents

[ Bared leaved Aloe---a succulent lily that has spines located on the edges of its leaves. ]

[Notch-leaved Kalanchoe---an African wild succulent]

Cactus

Cactus/Cactaceae is divided into 4 groups:

1. (Perskia) Plants that still produce LEAVES though it is in the cacti family, and everyone should know that most cacti DON'T have leaves.

2. (Opuntieae) Plants that have LEAVES but lose them very soon, so the LEAVES are rather unimportant.

3. Plants, which have, leaves SIMILAR to scales or with NO LEAVES.

4. Plants, which have stems INSTEAD of leaves (cladodes), epiphytes or semi-epiphytes.

Cactus is a very fascinating plant with it's mysterious origins and the enormous species---over 2,000---So, cactaceae(that is the cacti) is the LARGEST of the plant families. Cactus is designed to be in VERY HOT and dry places and they are very CAPABLE of storing water in their tissues...

The following are some famous species of cacti: