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Cactaceae (from the old Linnaean genus Cactus, a name used by the ancients to denote any spiny plant). Cactus Family. Fig. 41. Fleshy plants with watery or milky juice, a great reduction or complete absence of foliage, and very thick, rather sparingly branched, rarely unbranched stems, which are cylindrical, globular, flattened, or fluted, and often constricted or jointed: leaves alternate, flat and leaf-like in Pereskia, scale-like or absent in other genera, usually bearing bundles of spines in the axils, which are trichomes, and which are of two kinds, long and stout, or minute and needle-like: flowers bisexual, mostly regular, perigynous or epigynous; sepals and petals rarely 8-10, usually very many, similar; stamens many, inserted spirally or in groups on inside of the receptacle; ovary inferior, 1-celled, with 3 to many parietal placentae; ovules numerous; style 1; stigmas as many as the placenta: fruit a berry; embryo straight or curved.
The Cacti are almost entirely confined to the dry regions of tropical and subtropical America. Mexico is the center of this distribution, but the Cactaceae extend from New York to Patagonia. A species of Rhipsalis has lately been found indigenous in West Africa. The family is related to the Begoniaceae, Loasaceae, and Passifloraceae. The peculiar habit, perianth of many similar parts, many stamens, and inferior 1-celled ovary are distinctive. The Cactaceae is divided into three groups: (1) Cereus group, with receptacle extended in a tube beyond the ovary (perigynous), and no hooked spines; (2) Opuntia group, tube of the receptacle wanting, hooked spines usually present; (3) Pereskia group, with foliaceous leaves, panicled flowers, and no hooked spines.
The seeds of Rhipsalis, an epiphytic genus, are often viscid so as to adhere to tree trunks and the like. The ovaries of some Cactaceae are imbedded in the tissue of the stem. In this family, the thick stem is a water-storing organ. The flattened or fluted condition of the stem of most species is probably an adaptation which allows these stems to swell when water is abundant and contract when it is scarce without danger of rupturing the cuticle. The variation in size and form among cacti is very great. The largest species is Carnegiea giganteus of Mexico, candelabra-like, 60 feet high.
The fruit of Opuntia Ficus-indica, now naturalized in the Mediterranean region, is there eaten under the name of Indian fig. Opuntia Tuna of tropical America is the prickly pear, an edible fruit. Opuntia vulgaris of the eastern United States is also eaten under the name of prickly pear or Indian fig. Fruits of Cereus triangularis, C. gigantcus, and C. Thurberi are much prized. The stem and flowers of C. grandiflorus are used in medicine, producing an action on the heart. Vermifugal properties are found in many Cactaceae. An alcoholic drink is made by the Mexicans from the sap of species of Cereus. The cochineal insect, a scale insect yielding the well-known dye, cochineal, lives upon species of Opuntia, Pereskia, and Nopalea, in tropical America.
The total number of genera of Cactaceae which have been described up to the present time is about 70, although Dr. Karl Schumann, who monographed the family in 1899, recognized but 21. Of the many genera described, most are good and will probably stand. A rational and uniform treatment of the family will doubtless show that there are no less than 75 tenable genera. The total number of names published is something over 3,800. This includes many species that have been transferred from one genus to another. The number of species recognized by Schumann is something less than 700. Many of these species of Schumann, however, are known to be aggregates, and it is not unlikely that there are about 1,200 species in the family.
The number of genera treated in this work is 35. They are in cultivation in America as odd plants for desert gardens, and as greenhouse curiosities. Many have beautiful showy flowers, those of Cereus grandiflorus (night-blooming cereus) being nearly one foot across, and opening only in the night.
The reader will find the cacti described in this Cyclopedia under the following names: Acanthocereus; Anhalonium = Ariocarpus; Aporocactus: Ariocarpus; Bergerocactus; Cactus; Carnegiea; Cephalocereus; Cereus; Disocactus; Echinocactus; Echinocereus; Echinopsis; Epiphyllum = Zygocactus; Escontria; Hariota; Harrisia; Heliocereus; Hylocereus; Lemaireocereus; Leptocereus; Leuchtenbergia; Lophophora; Mamillaria; Melocactus = Cactus; Myrtillocactus; Nopalea; Opuntia; Pachycereus; Pelecyphora; Pereskia; Pereskiopsis; Phyllocactus = Epiphyllum; Pilocereus = Cephalocereus; Rathbunia; Selenicereus; Schlumbergera; Wilcoxia; Wittia; Zygocactus.
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:''This article is about the plant family. For the genus '''Cactus''', see [[Mammillaria]], [[Melocactus]], and [[Opuntia]].''
:''This article is about the plant family. For the genus '''Cactus''', see [[Mammillaria]], [[Melocactus]], and [[Opuntia]].''
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