They look great on a sunny sill or side table. And, they’re real cute. All succulents are adapted to dry environments with full sun and no shelter. According to a NASA study, succulents have even been found to purify the air of harmful toxins. Succulents are excellent starter plants because they’re low maintenance. Succulents (from the Latin word “succulentus,” for juice or sap) are defined by their moisture-storing capacity and come from many botanical families. Botanically-speaking, the term succulent refers to ANY plant that has evolved adaptations to survive hot arid environments. It is a term that does not refer to any specific family of plants, and, in fact, many succulent plants are not related to one another at all. Succulents can include many structural characteristics: an epidermis with waxy cutin, thickened, fleshy leaves, an alternative mode of photosynthesis, and so on. Many plants would, by botanic definition, be considered succulent even though we do not normally think of them as such. For example, snake plants (Sansevieria) and Ponytail palms (Beaucarnea) both have different adaptations for surviving in desert conditions. All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. Cacti are succulents from the family Cactaceae, which only are native to the Western Hemisphere. The trait of succulence has evolved multiple times throughout plant history, each time as a response to climate shifts to more arid conditions. Other plants have evolved succulent characteristics, such as Yucca, Agave, and Aloe.
Learn more about SucculentsCoded by Shelby Sanchez