A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north, with the exception of Rhipsalis baccifera, which is also found in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cacti are adapted to live in very dry environments, including the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis.
Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets. Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed, and hell's bells. All species of Datura are extremely poisonous and psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, anticholinergic syndrome, psychosis, and death if taken internally.
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 to 340 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. The natural range of Magnolia species is disjunct, with a main center in east and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.
Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. As a member of the Asteraceae family of dicotyledonous plants, its relatives include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. There are 49 species of dahlia, with flowers in almost every hue, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants.
Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the Americas and the Caribbean in a wide range of habitats, from humid rainforest and wet subtropical ecosystems to the hot and dry (arid) deserts and savanna.
Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli, are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add "heat" to dishes. Capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids are the substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Chili peppers exhibit a wide range of heat and flavors. This diversity is the reason behind the availability of different types of paprika and chili powder, each offering its own distinctive taste and heat level.
Mezcal, sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli, which means "oven-cooked agave", from metl and ixcalli. Traditionally the word "mezcal" has been used generally in Mexico for all agave spirits and it continues to be used for many agave spirits whether these spirits have been legally certified as "mezcal" or not.
Guava is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava Psidium guajava is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus Psidium such as strawberry guava and to the pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries.
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form. As such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name. It is sometimes recommended that the subspecies rank should be used to recognize geographic distinctiveness, whereas the variety rank is appropriate if the taxon is seen throughout the geographic range of the species.
Tagetes is a genus of 50 species of annual or perennial, mostly herbaceous plants in the family Asteraceae. They are among several groups of plants known in English as marigolds. The genus Tagetes was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico, and a portion of southeastern Arizona, as well as the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau. It is bordered on the west by the Sonoran Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, along with northwestern lowlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of Chihuahua, along with portions of Coahuila, north-eastern Durango, the extreme northern part of Zacatecas, and small western portions of Nuevo León. With an area of about 501,896 km2 (193,783 sq mi), it is the largest hot desert in North America. The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.
Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The best-known species is the common sunflower. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions, as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. The species H. annuus typically grows during the summer and into early fall, with the peak growth season being mid-summer.
Calea ternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is native to Mexico and Central America. Its English language common names include bitter-grass, Mexican calea, and dream herb.
Dysphania ambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides, known as Jesuit's tea, Mexican-tea, payqu(paico), epazote, mastruz, or herba sanctæ Mariæ, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to Central America, South America, and southern Mexico.
Crossosomataceae is a small plant family, consisting of four genera of shrubs found only in the dry parts of the American southwest and Mexico. This family has included up to ten species in the past, although as of 2021 six species are still recognised. Crossosoma are shrub-like plants which can vary from being 50 cm to 5 meters tall, with small alternating leaves that surround the stem, or leaves clustered in small spurts (fascicles). Apacheria, however, has opposite leaves. Crossosoma has usually white flowers that are generally bisexual and have 5 petals attached to a nectary disk, but in Velascoa the flowers are campanulate and have an extremely reduced nectary disk.
The Flora of North America North of Mexico is a multivolume work describing the native plants and naturalized plants of North America, including the United States, Canada, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Greenland. It includes bryophytes and vascular plants. All taxa are described and included in dichotomous keys, distributions of all species and infraspecific taxa are mapped, and about 20% of species are illustrated with line drawings prepared specifically for FNA. It is expected to fill 30 volumes when completed and will be the first work to treat all of the known flora north of Mexico; in 2015 it was expected that the series would conclude in 2017. Twenty-nine of the volumes have been published as of 2022.
A pitaya or pitahaya is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Pitaya is cultivated in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, Brazil, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Fouquieria is a genus of 11 species of desert flowering plants, the sole genus in the family Fouquieriaceae. The genus is native to North America and includes the ocotillo and the Boojum tree or cirio. They have semisucculent stems with thinner spikes projecting from them, with leaves on the bases spikes. They are unrelated to cacti and do not look much like them; their stems are proportionately thinner than cactus stems and their leaves are larger.
Agave is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Agave now includes species formerly placed in a number of other genera, such as Manfreda, ×Mangave, Polianthes and Prochnyanthes.
Gilberto N. Morillo is Venezuelan scientist, author, and educator. He was known for botany. In 1995 he was chosen as an elected curator of Herbario Forestal (MER) of the University of the Andes in Mérida, Venezuela. Morillo had already been a curator of the Faculty of Pharmacy (MERF) from the same university and the National Herbarium of Venezuela in Caracas. He is a collector of Angiopspermaes, whose specimens are in the National Herbarium of Venezuela. He is currently a researcher with the highest number of scientific publications of the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental and global specialist in Asclepiadaceae and a consultant for prestigious journals in the field of botany. Species named after Morillo including Prestonia morilloi (Apocynaceae), Cynanchum morilloi, Macroditassa morilloana, Oxypetalum morilloanum, Lessingianthus morilloi, Acianthera morilloi and Piper morilloi.
