The Complete Guide to Cactus Varieties: Keeping a Few Pots at Home Has So Many Benefits
Many office workers like to place a small plant on their desk, and small potted cacti are widely favored. First, because their small size takes up little space; second, because cacti can help the human body reduce the radiation emitted by computers; third, because cacti are desert plants with a very high survival rate and are relatively low-maintenance, so you don't have to worry at all about keeping them alive, and they come in a wide variety of species with a broad range to choose from. The Complete Guide to Cactus Varieties: keeping a few pots at home really has so many benefits!
I. Common Varieties
1. Crab Claw Cactus (Schlumbergera). The appearance of the Crab Claw Cactus matches its name, with a shape much like a crab's claws, in small segments one after another. This cactus has no stems for storing water, so its plant form is relatively slender.
2. Coral Cactus (Euphorbia lactea). This is a clustering, growing-together type of cactus, with a plant form of clusters linked to one another. Its appearance is easy to distinguish from other types of cacti, looking much like coral on the seabed.
3. Silver Fingers (Mammillaria gracilis). Cacti are not only green in color; there are other colors too, just like this variety, Silver Fingers. The plant's color tends toward silver, and the small spines on its body are fuzzy, giving the feel of a ball of yarn. Plant forms come in both large and small sizes.
4. Offsets Ball (Rebutia). The Offsets Ball often appears around us. It can produce red flowers and is very popular, and it is also one of the few flowering cactus varieties. Its spherical shape is somewhat different from ordinary spherical cacti, mainly because many small baby cacti grow on the mother ball, hence the name Offsets Ball, symbolizing the meaning of branching out and spreading.
5. Ball Cactus (Echinopsis). This variety is all too familiar. The plant appears as a round ball and belongs to the flowering cactus group. Flower colors include white, red, pink and so on, with a shape similar to morning glory.
II. Uses
1. Greening. The simplest use is to add a touch of green to life. It has the reputation of being an "oxygen factory at night" and is also an expert at cleaning up dust.
2. Edibility. Some master chefs use cactus to accompany food, and it can be pan-fried, boiled, baked and prepared in other ways; it can also be used for brewing alcohol; it is a fairly distinctive fruit-vegetable in daily life.
3. Medicinal use. Its contributions in the medical field are not to be underestimated either. The entire cactus plant can be used as a medicinal ingredient, taken internally or applied externally, and it can be harvested in all four seasons.
From this article, we have learned about a small portion of cactus varieties. Naturally, there are many more varieties we have not mentioned, and they exist right around us. Cacti are a variety relatively suited to lazy gardeners to care for: the difficulty is not high, the survival rate is extremely high, they have almost no requirements for the environment, and they can also play an effective role in daily life in areas such as medicine, cooking and greening.