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Cool Cacti
Tall ones
Round ones
Small ones
Flat ones
Ones that grow on trees
Ones with leaves
Cactus flowers
A spiny gallery
Grow cacti
Things to avoid
Where do cacti live?
What makes cacti special?
Super Succulents
Leaf succulents
Large ones – agave
Small ones – lithops
Stem succulents
Caudex succulents
Succulent flowers
Those names
Puzzle
Many cacti are globular or ball-shaped. Some remain small while others can grow very large.
This is a golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) growing on a windowsill.
This is one of the most popular cacti in the UK today, and you can buy small seedlings or larger plants in many garden centres and other stores.
Young plants have tubercles (bumps), the ribs only start to grow as they get older.
It usually grows well in cultivation, but it needs to be quite old before it will flower. Unfortunately it probably won’t flower in the UK.
After many years this is what it might look like.
These plants are growing in a botanic garden. The giant plant in the middle could well be several hundred years old.
If you buy a golden barrel cactus look after it well. They are now quite rare in their natural habitat, much of which has been destroyed by man.