The Succulent and Cactus Collection
Many different plant families around the world have developed fleshy tissues to store water and survive in dry climates.
Discover the remarkable diversity of the Succulent and Cactus Collection. More than just cacti! While the Cactus family (Cactaceae) is renowned for its fleshy members, it is only one of many plant families to have evolved this way; in the world of botany, all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti.
The Botanic Garden’s collection features plants from arid regions across the globe, representing a wide array of botanical families beyond the well-known cacti of the Americas. Although these species originate from different continents, they have all developed similar survival strategies to endure extreme drought and high salinity by storing water within their specialized tissues: whether in their branches, stems, or leaves.
The primary plant families utilizing these adaptations include:
- Cactaceae (Cactus family) – primarily from the Americas.
- Euhorbiaceae (Spurge family) and Aizoaceae (Ice plant family) – primarily from Africa.
- Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family) and the Asclepiadoideae subfamily (Milkweeds) – found throughout most of the world.
