Is a cactus a tree?

Asker: Max, 10 years

Answer

Dear Max,

it must be said: there are many types of cacti, more than 1000!

The vast majority of them don’t look like a tree at all.

But there are some that can look quite like a tree. They are then large, have a stem with bark… For those few species you could say that they are a tree.

So: no, a cactus is (usually) not a tree.

Answered by

Bram D’hondt

Plant Ecology

Institute for Nature and Forest Research
Kliniekstraat 25 1070 Brussels
http://www.inbo.be

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