Nice view titled Paysage de l'Arizona - Cactus cierges et yuccas, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring, overall size approx. 26.5 x 18.5  cm, image size approx. 19 x 13 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus.

cactus

plural cacti or cactuses

flowering plants in the order Caryophyllales. Botanists estimate that there are  more than 2,000 species, grouped into about 175 genera, but there is much  argument about the limits of both genera and species.

Cacti are native through most of the length of North and South America, from  British Columbia and Alberta southward; the southernmost limit of their range  extends far into Chile and Argentina. Mexico has the greatest number and variety  of species. The only cacti possibly native to the Old World are members of the  tropical genus Rhipsalis, occurring in East Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka.

Cacti are succulent perennial plants. Although a few species inhabit tropical or  subtropical areas, most live in and are well adapted to dry regions. Cacti  generally have thick herbaceous or woody chlorophyll-containing stems. In most  species leaves are either absent or greatly reduced, minimizing the amount of  surface area from which water can be lost, and the stem has taken over the  photosynthetic functions of the plant. Only the tropical genera Pereskia and  Pereskopsis, both vines, have conventional-looking functional leaves, while the  leaves of the Andean Maihuenia are rounded, not flattened. The root systems are  generally thin, fibrous, and shallow, ranging widely to absorb superficial  moisture.

yucca

(genus Yucca), any of about 40 species of succulent plants of the family  Agavaceae, native to southern North America. Most species of yucca are stemless,  with a rosette of stiff, sword-shaped leaves at the base and clusters of waxy  white flowers.

The Joshua tree (Y. brevifolia) has a stem more than 10 m (33 feet) high.  Spanish bayonet (Y. aloifolia), Spanish dagger (Y. gloriosa), and Adam's needle,  or bear grass (Y. filamentosa), are commonly cultivated as ornamentals for their  unusual appearance and attractive flower clusters.