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Cactus
Country: Mexico.

Talking about Mexico, we find that our country is one of the richest in biodiversity; we have the coldest climates, going by the humid and warm up to the driest and arid, which are the ones that will get our present attention, not only because for the enormous territory extension that arid areas occupy in Mexico but it also harbors the most evolved plants that exist until this moment, the cactuses.

The cactus has an unbeatable beauty, they fill with yellow, red, and green colors those areas pale and arid, and exist of many and of diverse sizes (from a diameter not bigger than that of your fingernail, to 25 meters like the pachycerus grandis or the carnegiea gigantae) and varieties that would be a pity to lose each one of them before being contemplated.

We know that everyday their value increase, referring in commercial and economic terms, and that there isn't still in Mexico legislation that protects them, not only for the fact of increasing exportation and the interest to have them as decorations in hotels, restaurants, houses and offices. We forget that besides being beautiful plants, they play a very important role inside arid areas where they provide protection and food to hundred of animals as insects, bats, scorpions, hummingbirds, prey birds, eagles, squirrels and big mammals.

Specific Characteristics

What are the cactuses? They are defined as a" family of plants with fleshy shafts, branches with thorns or flakes instead of leaves and sometimes showy flowers" (UNAM: 1989). It is important to emphasize that they live in quite dry land, although they support the rain and the snow.
It is believed that they surely evolved of a plant with foliage, now already extinct, and that of 800 to 1,500 well-known species, 68% are represented in Mexico.

Their current thorns were in some moment of their evolution simple leaves. The thorns have many functions, among the most important we can say that these serve as defense against of animal pillaging, another function is that they act as protection against the dehydration, when reducing the exposed area to the sun, they also work like guides for the condensation of humidity toward the roots, as a means of transportation and vegetable dispersion, since its termination in tip allows them to adhere to the body or the hair of some animals. On the other hand, the minority that has leaves instead of thorns, presents a considerable reduction with the primordial object of these plants that is to conserve water; another case is those that have rigid and thorny branches, and the leaves that they have are reduced to falling flakes (UNAM: 1989).

Another characteristic of these plants is that they don't carry out photosynthesis in the leaves like the other plants; in its case they make it by means of the thorns, others on the bark and others on the shafts that are"rounded, cylindrical or smoothed, always thick and fleshy" (MARTÍNEZ: 1958). The cactus that carry out the photosynthesis on the shafts, presents a resin and rubber which are useful to survive in an extremely arid atmosphere, it also allows them to store fresh water during the night to use it during the day and to maintain this way its cells in perfect condition.

Speaking of their magnificent roots, we know that in some species they grow when the first summer rains occur, however others grow with the minimum contact with water. Two types of root growth exist, mainly. The first one is where the roots extend all around the plant to be able to capture the minimum dew or humidity of the night. The second type of growth happens in not so dry areas, the growth of the root is downwards, looking for underground deposits where they can be provided of water.

Distribution

68% of the cactuses varieties are in Mexican territory. Making a comparison with other countries we know that the United States has 18 thousand species, the former Soviet Union 20 thousand, China 26 thousand and in the whole European continent only 12 thousand species. Mexico has a bigger figure than all the previous countries, we speak of 30 thousand identified species.

Origin

"... many authors postulate the thesis that the cactuses originated in Mexico and in the Antilles, because of the enormous diversity of them in these regions" (UNAM: 1989). It is almost a fact, the cactus is in the great majority, native of the New World, a minority is from north Alberta in Canada, or of the Patagonia and a few species one can see in the fields of Oriental Africa and Madagascar, as the Rhypsalis that were surely cared by merchants and evolved to be able to survive the new environment.

Mexico

Coming back to Mexico, the two main rich regions in cactus, are the deserts of Sonora and Chihuahua. The sonorense desert is drier and the chihuahuense a little warmer, in both it rains in summer and only in Chihuahua in certain days of winter. In the desert of Sonora one can see columnar cactus and in organ form in contrast with the second (Chihuahua) where one can see magnificent small cactuses. Other places of the republic with important cactus populations are the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Puebla.

Biosphere Reserve of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán

In Puebla we can visit the reservation of Tehuacán. In the center area of the Mexico, to the south of the tropic of Cancer, forming part of Oaxaca and Puebla, the biosphere reserve of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán is located. The reservation has a surface of 490,168 hectares and it is conformed by 20 municipalities of the state of Puebla and 31 municipalities of the state of Oaxaca.

The valley of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán is inside a great geographical basin formed by a basement that is a compound bottom of volcanic rocks of such a recent age as the time of when the dinosaurs reigned this planet.
The Institute of Biology of the UNAM reported 2,703 distributed cactus species in 922 genus and 189 families; of the 81 observed species 20 of these they are endemic of the valley.

Genus Echinocactus

In general we can say that this species presents a globular form, most has some channels known as ribs and that the quantity of these depend on the individual's size. The thorns that it presents are dense and of yellowish color, the different color depending of how much it is exposed to the sun; while their flowers are born of an intense yellow and they die with a similar tone.

A commonly well-known plant for their gigantic size in natural state and that belongs to this genus is the kellah that ends up having monstrous dimensions and that has the general characteristics of the echinocactus.

Genus Mammilaria

Something that makes this special genus is that they are small cactus and with their globular form. Their dense thorns make this species a little inadvertent, situation that makes them look for refuge in the bushes and in the fissures of some rock.

This group accounts for 250 species that are native of Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, the Southeast of United States and breaking the record, Mexico.

They possess spinal numbers that come in great variety of colors and different dimensions. Their florescence come in form of rings in the superior part and they go from the white color, going by the cream, yellow, rose, red and purple.

Ecoturismolatino thanks Tamia Huc & Andrew Rhodes for their contribution to this page.

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Mexico: Biodiversity
	Cactus Country: Mexico. Talking about Mexico, we find that our country is one of the richest in biodiversity; we have the coldest climates, going by the humid and warm up to the driest and arid, which are the ones that will get our present attention, not only because for the enormous territory extension that arid areas occupy in Mexico but it also harbors the most evolved plants that exist until this moment, the cactuses. The cactus has an unbeatable beauty, they fill with yellow, red, and green colors those areas pale and arid, and exist of many and of diverse sizes (from a diameter not bigger than that of your fingernail, to 25 meters like the pachycerus grandis or the carnegiea gigantae) and varieties that would be a pity to lose each one of them before being contemplated. We know that everyday their value increase, referring in commercial and economic terms, and that there isn't still in Mexico legislation that protects them, not only for the fact of increasing exportation and the interest to have them as decorations in hotels, restaurants, houses and offices. We forget that besides being beautiful plants, they play a very important role inside arid areas where they provide protection and food to hundred of animals as insects, bats, scorpions, hummingbirds, prey birds, eagles, squirrels and big mammals. Specific Characteristics What are the cactuses? They are defined as a" family of plants with fleshy shafts, branches with thorns or flakes instead of leaves and sometimes showy flowers" (UNAM: 1989). It is important to emphasize that they live in quite dry land, although they support the rain and the snow. It is believed that they surely evolved of a plant with foliage, now already extinct, and that of 800 to 1,500 well-known species, 68% are represented in Mexico. Their current thorns were in some moment of their evolution simple leaves. The thorns have many functions, among the most important we can say that these serve as defense against of animal pillaging, another function is that they act as protection against the dehydration, when reducing the exposed area to the sun, they also work like guides for the condensation of humidity toward the roots, as a means of transportation and vegetable dispersion, since its termination in tip allows them to adhere to the body or the hair of some animals. On the other hand, the minority that has leaves instead of thorns, presents a considerable reduction with the primordial object of these plants that is to conserve water; another case is those that have rigid and thorny branches, and the leaves that they have are reduced to falling flakes (UNAM: 1989). Another characteristic of these plants is that they don't carry out photosynthesis in the leaves like the other plants; in its case they make it by means of the thorns, others on the bark and others on the shafts that are"rounded, cylindrical or smoothed, always thick and fleshy" (MARTÍNEZ: 1958). The cactus that carry out the photosynthesis on the shafts, presents a resin and rubber which are useful to survive in an extremely arid atmosphere, it also allows them to store fresh water during the night to use it during the day and to maintain this way its cells in perfect condition. Speaking of their magnificent roots, we know that in some species they grow when the first summer rains occur, however others grow with the minimum contact with water. Two types of root growth exist, mainly. The first one is where the roots extend all around the plant to be able to capture the minimum dew or humidity of the night. The second type of growth happens in not so dry areas, the growth of the root is downwards, looking for underground deposits where they can be provided of water. Distribution 68% of the cactuses varieties are in Mexican territory. Making a comparison with other countries we know that the United States has 18 thousand species, the former Soviet Union 20 thousand, China 26 thousand and in the whole European continent only 12 thousand species. Mexico has a bigger figure than all the previous countries, we speak of 30 thousand identified species. Origin "... many authors postulate the thesis that the cactuses originated in Mexico and in the Antilles, because of the enormous diversity of them in these regions" (UNAM: 1989). It is almost a fact, the cactus is in the great majority, native of the New World, a minority is from north Alberta in Canada, or of the Patagonia and a few species one can see in the fields of Oriental Africa and Madagascar, as the Rhypsalis that were surely cared by merchants and evolved to be able to survive the new environment. Mexico Coming back to Mexico, the two main rich regions in cactus, are the deserts of Sonora and Chihuahua. The sonorense desert is drier and the chihuahuense a little warmer, in both it rains in summer and only in Chihuahua in certain days of winter. In the desert of Sonora one can see columnar cactus and in organ form in contrast with the second (Chihuahua) where one can see magnificent small cactuses. Other places of the republic with important cactus populations are the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Puebla. Biosphere Reserve of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán In Puebla we can visit the reservation of Tehuacán. In the center area of the Mexico, to the south of the tropic of Cancer, forming part of Oaxaca and Puebla, the biosphere reserve of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán is located. The reservation has a surface of 490,168 hectares and it is conformed by 20 municipalities of the state of Puebla and 31 municipalities of the state of Oaxaca. The valley of Tehuacán - Cuicatlán is inside a great geographical basin formed by a basement that is a compound bottom of volcanic rocks of such a recent age as the time of when the dinosaurs reigned this planet. The Institute of Biology of the UNAM reported 2,703 distributed cactus species in 922 genus and 189 families; of the 81 observed species 20 of these they are endemic of the valley. Genus Echinocactus In general we can say that this species presents a globular form, most has some channels known as ribs and that the quantity of these depend on the individual's size. The thorns that it presents are dense and of yellowish color, the different color depending of how much it is exposed to the sun; while their flowers are born of an intense yellow and they die with a similar tone. A commonly well-known plant for their gigantic size in natural state and that belongs to this genus is the kellah that ends up having monstrous dimensions and that has the general characteristics of the echinocactus. Genus Mammilaria Something that makes this special genus is that they are small cactus and with their globular form. Their dense thorns make this species a little inadvertent, situation that makes them look for refuge in the bushes and in the fissures of some rock. This group accounts for 250 species that are native of Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, the Southeast of United States and breaking the record, Mexico. They possess spinal numbers that come in great variety of colors and different dimensions. Their florescence come in form of rings in the superior part and they go from the white color, going by the cream, yellow, rose, red and purple. Ecoturismolatino thanks Tamia Huc & Andrew Rhodes for their contribution to this page.