{"id":103402,"date":"2026-05-14T13:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=103402"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:06:50","slug":"cacti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/cacti\/","title":{"rendered":"Cacti"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Cacti Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New research reveals that cacti create new species surprisingly quickly, despite their slow-growing reputation. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Cacti<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cacti are a type of <\/span><b>plant <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that is known for its<\/span><b> thick, fleshy stem and its spines.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are nearly <\/span><b>2,000 species <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and 139 genera.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These plants are <\/span><b>native to the deserts of North and South America <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and have <\/span><b>adapted to the dry, hot climate.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cacti come in a wide <\/span><b>variety of shapes and sizes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most unique things about cacti is their ability to <\/span><b>store large amounts of water in their stems.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This adaptation helps them to<\/span><b> survive in desert conditions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where water is scarce.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>When it rains,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cacti<\/span><b> absorb water through their roots<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>store it in their stems. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This water is<\/span><b> used by the plant during dry periods.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>stem <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is <\/span><b>covered in a layer of protection <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that<\/span><b> helps prevent evaporation.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cacti also have <\/span><b>specialized roots<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that are <\/span><b>able to absorb water quickly.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>shape <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of a cactus also plays a <\/span><b>role in its water-saving abilities.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Most cacti have a columnar shape<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which means that they have a<\/span><b> narrow base and a wide top.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This shape <\/span><b>allows the plant to minimize its surface area <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so that less water is lost through evaporation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are <\/span><b>two main types of cacti<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: opuntias and columnar cacti.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Opuntias<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, also called <\/span><b>prickly pears<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, are cacti that have <\/span><b>flat, fleshy pads instead of the traditional cylindrical stem.\u00a0 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These plants are <\/span><b>covered in spines, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and they produce small, <\/span><b>edible fruits.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Columnar cacti,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the other hand, have a <\/span><b>tall, straight stem<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with <\/span><b>ridges running up and down<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> its length.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These cacti often grow to be <\/span><b>quite large,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and are home to many species of animals in their native habitats.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Cacti <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can be<\/span><b> distinguished from other succulent plants <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by the <\/span><b>presence of areoles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>small cushionlike structures with trichomes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(plant hairs) and, in almost all species, <\/span><b>spines <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or barbed bristles (glochids).\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Areoles <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are <\/span><b>modified branches<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, from which flowers, more branches, and leaves (when present) may grow. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2026\/05\/260512202347.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> SD<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cacti are a type of plant that is known for its thick, fleshy stem and its spines. Read more about Cacti, Native, Habitat, Features, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":103388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7530],"class_list":{"0":"post-103402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-cacti","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103402"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103419,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103402\/revisions\/103419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}