Cacti may look like slow, stubborn desert survivors, but they’re actually evolving at lightning speed. Scientists studying ...

The question of why some branches of the tree of life explode into thousands of species, while others remain small, has shaped evolutionary biology since Charles Darwin. My colleague and I have ...

In this video, we explore the growth of Selenicereus undatus, also known as the white-fleshed pitahaya or dragon fruit. This species of the Cactaceae family is widely cultivated for ornamental and ...

The cactus family (Cactaceae) comprises around 2,000 species of succulent plants that have undergone remarkable diversification across the Americas. Modern phylogenetic analyses integrate nuclear and ...

Smart gardeners in West Hawaii are installing some drought tolerant plants in their landscapes. Of course, one of the most drought tolerant groups of plants are those that can thrive in the desert. We ...

This question of why some branches of the tree of life explode into thousands of species, while others remain small, has shaped evolutionary biology since Charles Darwin. My colleague and I have ...

With almost a third of cacti species threatened with extinction, a new open-access database of cactus ecology and evolution could help scientists and conservationists save species from the brink.

THE issue of the fourth volume of “The Cactaceæ” brings this sumptuous monograph of the family to a conclusion. Previous volumes have been discussed in NATURE, vol. 107, p. 580, and vol. in, p. 426.

The largest genus in the cactus family (Cactaceae) is Mammillaria, and a very recognizable member is the twin spined cactus (Mammillaria geminispina). This small cactus has tiny tubercles (rounded ...