Are Cacti Poisonous? Here Is the Latest Answer
The cactus is a plant of the genus Opuntia, also known as Xianbazhang, Guanyinzhang, Bawang, Huozhang and so on. It is mainly distributed in the arid regions of tropical and subtropical zones such as the southern and southeastern coastal areas of the United States, the West Indies, Bermuda and northern South America, southern China and Southeast Asia. Now let us take a look at whether cacti are poisonous!
Are cacti poisonous?
Cacti are not poisonous, but wild cacti are poisonous. Some species of wild cacti contain toxic alkaloids, which can poison those who eat them and in severe cases even endanger human life. Some species in the genera Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Obregonia, Aztekium, Cleistocactus and Neowerdermannia contain toxic components such as mescaline and anhalonine, which have hallucinogenic and narcotic effects on the human nervous system. Edible cacti are not poisonous and are a super healthy vegetable; they can be cut from the ground and go straight to the dining table.
Can cacti be eaten?
Cacti can be eaten, but not all varieties can be eaten. In Mexican markets, the tender stems of some flat-padded cacti are commonly sold as vegetables. Edible cacti are high in potassium, low in sodium and low in sugar, with a sugar content even lower than that of lettuce and cucumber. They have long been a traditional food in the Americas and are an indispensable specialty vegetable and fruit in people's daily lives. People wash and chop cacti and boil them in soup, or roast them on a stove, or make them into pie filling, or directly pickle fresh cacti, and some even use cacti to brew alcohol.
Types of cacti
1. Cactus (Opuntia): The cactus is a clustering succulent shrub, with the upper branches broadly obovate, obovate-elliptic or nearly round. The flowers are radial, and the flower receptacle is obovate. The berry is obovoid-globose, and the seeds are mostly flat-round, with slightly irregular edges, hairless and pale yellowish brown. It likes strong light, tolerates heat, drought and poor soil, and has tenacious vitality. The suitable growth temperature is 20-30°C. The flowering period is from June to October.
2. Cochineal cactus (Opuntia cochenillifera): The cochineal cactus is 2-4 m tall, with numerous branches, scattered areoles, and awl-shaped leaves. The flowers are nearly cylindrical, the flower receptacle is obovate, the sepal-like perianth segments are scale-like, the filaments are red, the anthers are pink, the style is pink, the berry is ellipsoid-globose, the seeds are nearly round, and the flowering period is from July to February of the following year. It is native to Mexico and is widely cultivated in tropical regions of the world, having naturalized in India, Hawaii, Australia and other places.
3. Bunny ears cactus (Opuntia microdasys): The bunny ears cactus, also known as Golden Crow Hat, is a plant of the genus Opuntia in the family Cactaceae, native to northern Mexico and introduced and cultivated in China. The plant is upright, much branched, shrub-like, 60 cm to 1 m tall, with relatively broad elliptic or broadly elliptic stem segments that are yellow-green. The areoles are densely covered with golden-yellow glochids. It blooms in summer, with pale yellow, short funnel-shaped flowers. The berry is round, red, with white flesh.
4. White bunny ears cactus (Opuntia microdasys var. albispina): The white bunny ears cactus is a variety of the bunny ears cactus. The plant is shorter than the bunny ears cactus, the areoles are sparser, the glochids are white, the flower buds are red and open to yellow-white. The plant is 0.5-2 m tall. The stem is upright, slightly woody at the base, cylindrical, and the rest is paddle-shaped and flat, with each segment obovate to elliptic and green. The flowers are solitary on the areoles and bright yellow. The berry is pear-shaped, spineless and purplish red.
5. Indian fig opuntia (Opuntia ficus-indica): The Indian fig opuntia is shrubby to tree-like, with stem segments oblong to spatulate, thick and flat, and blue-pink. The areoles on the stem segments of wild plants have 1-5 white or pale yellow spreading spines, while the spines of greenhouse-cultivated plants are often reduced, either spineless or with white bristle-like spines, and the glochids fall off early. The flowers are yellow to orange-yellow. The flower receptacle is obovate, and the petals are oblong. The berry is obovoid-elliptic, red, purple, yellow or white depending on the variety. It is an edible succulent shrub or small tree.
6. Single-spine cactus (Opuntia monacantha): The single-spine cactus is 1.3-7 m tall. Old plants often have a cylindrical trunk, with numerous branches that gradually narrow to a stalk-like base, sparsely bearing areoles. The areoles are round, the spines are needle-like, the short wool is grayish brown, the glochids are yellowish brown to brown and sometimes hidden in the short wool, and the leaves are awl-shaped. The flowers are radial, the flower receptacle is obovate, the sepal-like perianth segments are deep yellow, the petal-like perianth segments are deep yellow, the anthers are pale yellow, the style is pale green to yellowish white, the berry is pear-shaped or obovoid-globose, the seeds are mostly kidney-shaped-elliptic, and the flowering period is from April to August.
7. Crab cactus (Schlumbergera): The crab cactus, also known as Christmas cactus, crab claw orchid and so on, is 30-50 cm tall, much branched, spreading outward and drooping, with flat, obovate stem segments, green to purple-green in color, and the stem segments have pincer-like sharp serrations, with the segments connected in a chain and resembling crab claws. It blooms around New Year's Day, and the flower color varies by variety, including red, orange-yellow, white, pink and so on, with the petals recurving after opening.