Hello from Tunisia

[Bronte]

Hello, my name is Bronte and I am an expat living in Tunisia. I am particularly interested in xerophytic plants - the climate here is very suited to succulent plants and plants in the Cactaceae family. It is possible to see xerophytic plant specimens used in urban amenity horticulture as well as in private gardens. I have a section of my blog devoted to Cacti and Cactaceae http://brightlycolouredsunflowers.blogs ... 0Cactaceae where I try and photograph and identify as many different species as possible. I would appreciate help in identifying the cacti in my blog at the above mentioned URL as it saves me attaching all the photographs here. Many thanks.

P.S. I would be grateful in particular with the identification of the photographs from the following blog posts 8 December 2012 and 20 April 2011 photographs a, b and c.

[Chris in Leeds]

Hi Bronte
Welcome to the forum

[Bronte]

Thank you Chris. As I said in my introduction I wanted the panel to help me identify some plants in the Cactacea family. I am interested in Cacti and Succulents. I take photographs and do blog posts about them trying to identify the photographs I have taken with images in a book I have on the subject namely Cacti and Other Succulents by Lieut.-General Sir Oliver Leese. I also try and identify the Cacti in my photographs by trawling through various images on the internet even though this is not a very scientific way of doing things. I have yet to find out the exact names of the Cacti that I have photographed hence the reason why I have decided to join The British Cactus & Succulent Society. I am hopeful that an expert in this field will be able to recognise them immediately. Once I have a correct identification I am hoping to do a follow-up blog post and I will mention the BCSS forum's help in this matter.

I am also hoping to do another blog post about the difference between Cacti and Succulents. The Wikipedia entry under the heading of Succulent plants says "Plants adapted to living in dry environments are termed "xerophytes"; thus succulents are often xerophytes. However, not all xerophytes are succulents, since there are other ways of adapting to a shortage of water, e.g. by developing small leaves which may roll up or having leathery rather than succulent leaves. Nor are all succulents xerophytes, since plants like Crassula helmsii are both succulent and aquatic. Those who grow succulents as a hobby use the term in a different way to botanists. In horticultural use, the term "succulent" regularly excludes cacti. For example, Jacobsen's three volume Handbook of Succulent Plants does not cover cacti, and "cacti and succulents" is the title or part of the title of many books covering the cultivation of these plants. However, in botanical terminology, cacti are succulents".. It all sounds rather confusing ... Bronte.