CactiGuide.com

I was hiking on Spirit Mountain, Nevada, and saw something round in shape on the side of a small wash. Further investigation showed the carcass of a mature barrel cactus. Growing at an angle out of the crack in the rock probably speeded up its death as gravity helped pull it down.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. I really like seeing images of cacti in their infancy and at the end of their lifetime in the wild.

Everything has a lifespan. With cacti it can range from around 5-8 years or so with some tiny Mammilaria's to 250 years with a Carnegia (Saguaro). Plants possibly live longer in cultivation than they do in the wild, provided we do not kill them through poor cultivation. But nothing lasts forever as far as we know.

Death of a Copiapoa in Chile. They do not rot in that climate, just dry up and turn to dust.

DaveW wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 10:24 am Everything has a lifespan. With cacti it can range from around 5-8 years or so with some tiny Mammilaria's to 250 years with a Carnegia (Saguaro). Plants possibly live longer in cultivation than they do in the wild, provided we do not kill them through poor cultivation. But nothing lasts forever as far as we know.

Death of a Copiapoa in Chile. They do not rot in that climate, just dry up and turn to dust.

Fascinating picture Dave. Dust to dust indeed!

Yes, in dry habitats plants don't tend to rot away as in moister ones and so return as normal organic matter to the soil, but soon dry out and turn to dust. An old British cactus grower in the 1960's used to maintain cacti simply turn to dust or mineralise in dry climates and return to desert soils that way. Therefore he claimed cactus potting soils should have no actively rotting organic matter in them since the plants were not used to the rotting bacteria in actively rotting compost. I remembered this many years later when in Chile and took the following photo showing what he meant.

Not a cactus, but in Chile the same locality as the Copiapoa, but here you can see the grey dust around it returning the nutrients to the soil.

Anza-Borrego Desert.

That is the philosophy of life: older organisms to provide nutrients and space for younger ones.


Another seedling of F. cylindraceus under full sun.

7george wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:58 am Anza-Borrego Desert.

That is the philosophy of life: older organisms to provide nutrients and space for younger ones.


Another seedling of F. cylindraceus under full sun.

You'll never prove it to me - I'm going to live forever until the day I die!

Used to be an Echinocereus clump next to this young barrel... End even rocks are disintegrating to sand there.