Just Interesting ... thought you MIGHT like to see ...

[stefan m.]

I know. What i was saying is that a lot of(cacti and) succulents live in volcanic areas, often among old rocks, and frequently exposed to said gas over their long lifetimes. And it didnt seem to bother them for thousands of years.

[WayneByerly]

.. . Radon may not be too much of a problem if your out in the open air where the wind blows it away, the problem was it building up under floors and seeping into the houses in areas with higher radon levels...

Exactly right.

[WayneByerly]

... And it didnt seem to bother them for thousands of years.

C. Darwin would have loved this.

Maybe, maybe... that is why some cacti look the way they do.

[stefan m.]

Youd think that, buuuut here some intersting facts
-spination grows proportionately to sun exposure, more sun, bigger spines. this likely is because cacti spines not only work as a animal repellent,but also as a shade mechansim
-some spines have hooks(like your ferocactus) and barbs in order to attach on animals to spread around(like burdock), or to hold onto something during a flash flood
-fruit bats actually farm cacti(eat nectar to pollinate, eat fruit and spread seeds with litter) on their migration route
-Some are pollinated by bees, some by moths
-aloes and agave have weird, flashy flowers in order to attract small birds to pollinate them
-Kalanchoe beharensis and bryophyllum plants have some of natures most naturaly potent stem cells, being able to make a clone of a small leaf segment
-like other plants, toxic ones exhibit aposematism(where they ward of predators with bright colors to show that theyre toxic)
-Some succulents have actually a natural form of lens (fenestraria for example) in order to refract and divert light to the inside of the leaf
-Euphorbia and apocyanae sap is used by native people to hunt animals(mentioned this) due to its toxicity, the sap is a defensive mechanism
- some plants mimic the surrounding area(astrophytum capricorne spines mimic dead grass, theirs and lithops stems mimic rocks.
-plants in the stapeliae have foul smelling flowers, a mechanism similar to the raflesia and some arums, where the plant is pollinated by corpse eating flies.
-aloe vera was famous even in ancient times
-sempervium was in roman

[WayneByerly]

... Youd think that, buuuut here some intersting facts
-spination grows proportionately to sun exposure, more sun, bigger spines. this likely is because cacti spines not only work as a animal repellent,but also as a shade mechansim...

These facts are exactly what I meant when I wrote earlier, "Darwin would have loved this".

[stefan m.]

Interesting facts, round 2
-some cacti like trichocereus and eulychinia have formed a symbiotic relationship with moss-the moss covers most of the plant, and in order to cope with the aridity the moss gathers moisture from the morning fog(Atacama has lowest rainfall) which is that diverted into the roots
-dracaena draco, cinabarii and others have there growing tips(heads ) form a mushroom shaped umbrella in order to keep the root cool
-baobab is a night flowering plant(like a lot of cacti), and some species are pollinated by lemurs(among other things). Aslo, its fruit is one of the most abundant sources of vitamin C.
-The rarest cacti live on galapgos, some like the Brachycereus nesioticus live only on petrified volcanic lava flows, making their cultivation impossible.
-Some consider night blooming cactus flowers to be the rarest and most beautiful
-The best tasting fruit is considered belonging to stenocereus species, while nearly all cactus fruit is edible to humans(the exception would be really spiny, really dry, or seed filled fruits).
-Cacti range (in natural habitat) from canada(with opuntia fragilis) all to patagonia(with the maihuenia genus),
-cephalium, a blooming structure often associated with melocactus, is actually found on the related genuses Coleocephalocereus,Arrojadoa as well unrelated ones like pachycereus militaris, espotoa and discocactus. They are different from the main cactus stem, as they continue to grow after the stem stops, and only purpose is to produce flowers, and provide anchor and advertise said flowers. In addition some of these have the before mentioned dichotomous split, like the cacti in this forum.

[ElieEstephane]

Here's an example of the symbiotic relationship. A native Rosularia libanotica growing in moss on a stone wall.

[stefan m.]

Ill upload a photo of eculychinia/
Youd barely recognize its even a cactus

[ElieEstephane]

I think that next to Eulychnia, some capiapoas have lichen too.

[stefan m.]

Now some other things from the list

[stefan m.]

Elieestephane ive seen it too. Others as well, but not as much as eulychinia.
Also , the window plant

[the_cheshirecat]

Excuse my interruption, but where do I get one of these?
They are absolutely stunning

[stefan m.]

Seeds, or nursery(rare, but not unavailable like some)

[the_cheshirecat]

I'm really bad at growing from seeds, three weeks and nothing's happening...

[stefan m.]

Where did you get the seeds from, and how did you try to germinate?(have we talked about it before cus i cant rember?)