Is the cactus poisonous?

Cactus is a plant of the genus cactus, also known as cactus, Guanyin cactus, overlord, fire cactus, etc., mainly distributed in the coastal areas of the southern and southeastern United States, the West Indies, Bermuda and tropical and subtropical regions of northern South America, southern China and Southeast Asia. Let's take a look at whether the cactus is poisonous.

Is the cactus poisonous?

Cactus is not poisonous, but wild cactus is poisonous. Some species of wild cactus contain poisonous alkaloids, which can cause poison to eaters and even endanger human life. Some species of black feather jade, rock peony, axe ball, moon world, hair style and near guard column contain toxic ingredients such as moscalin and Anchalin, which have hallucinogenic anesthetic effect on human nerves. Edible cactus is non-toxic and is a super healthy vegetable that can be cut from the ground and served directly on the table.

Can cactus eat?

Cacti can be eaten, but not all varieties can be eaten. It is common in the Mexican market that the tender stems of some flaky cacti are sold as vegetables. Cactus is high in potassium, low in sodium and low in sugar, and its sugar content is lower than that of lettuce and cucumber. It has always been a traditional American food and is an indispensable characteristic vegetable and fruit in people's daily life. People wash and cut the cactus and boil it in soup, or bake it on the stove, make a pie filling, or marinate the fresh cactus directly, and some use the cactus to make wine.

The species of cactus

1. Cactus: cactus is a tufted fleshy shrub with broad Obovate, Obovate-oval or subrounded upper branches. Flowers radiate, receptacle Obovate. Berries obovoid, seeds mostly oblate, margin slightly irregular, glabrous, yellowish brown. Like strong light, resistant to heat, drought, barren, tenacious vitality, the suitable temperature for growth is 20-30 ℃. The florescence is from June to October.

2. Cochineal palm: the palm of cochineum is 2-4 meters high, with many branches, scattered areoles, subcylindrical leaves, flowers subcylindrical, receptacle Obovate, calyx-shaped perianth scalelike, filament red, anthers pink, style pink, berries ellipsoid, seeds nearly round, flowering from July to February of the following year. Originally from Mexico, it is widely cultivated in the tropics of the world and naturalized in India, Hawaii, Australia and other places.

3. Yellow hair cactus: yellow hair cactus, also known as golden black hat, is a cactus of cactus family, native to northern Mexico, introduced and cultivated in China. The plant is erect much branched, shrubby, 60 cm to 1 m high, the stem node is broadly elliptic or broadly elliptic, yellowish green, the thorn seat is densely covered with golden hooks, summer flowering, yellowish flowers, short funnel-shaped, round berries, red, white pulp.

4. White-haired palm: White-hairy palm is a variety of yellow-haired palm. The plant is shorter than the yellow palm, the thorn seat is sparse, the hook hair is white, the bud is red, and it is yellow-white after opening. The height of the plant is 0.52m. The stem is erect, the base is slightly lignified, cylindrical, the rest palmate, flat, each internode Obovate to elliptic, green. The flower is born on the thorn nest, bright yellow. Berries pear-shaped, unarmed, purplish red.

5. Pear cactus: pear cactus shrubs to treelike, stem nodes oblong to spatulate, thick and flat, blue and pink. The small nests on the stem nodes of wild plants have 1 to 5 white or yellowish needles, and the plants cultivated in greenhouse are often degenerated, without thorns or with white prickles, and the inverted bristles fall early. The flowers are yellow to orange. Receptacle Obovate, petals oblong. Berries Obovate-oval, red, purple, yellow or white, depending on variety, edible fleshy shrubs or small trees.

6. Single thorn cactus: the single thorn cactus is 1.3 to 7 meters high, the old plant often has a cylindrical trunk, many branches, the base attenuates to a handle, sparsely areoles, areoles round, needlelike, short woolly grayish brown, barbed bristles yellowish to brown, sometimes hidden in short woolly hairs, leaves subulate, radiate, receptacle Obovate, calyx tepals dark yellow, petaloid tepals dark yellow, anthers yellowish. Style light green to yellowish white, berries pear-shaped or obovoid, seeds mostly reniform-elliptic, florescence from April to August.

7, crab claw cactus: crab claw cactus, also known as crab claw orchid, crab orchid and so on, the plant is 30cm high, much branched, spreading and drooping outward, the stem node is flat, Obovate, the body color is green to purple green, the stem node has pincer-shaped sharp serrated, branches are connected, like crab claws. New Year's Day blossoms before and after, the color varies with the variety, such as red, orange, white, pink and so on. The petals are rolled back after opening.