Aloe Vera Plant and Cactus Plant Article

Aloe Vera is a semi-tropical plant that belongs believe it or not to the lily family. Aloe Vera is also a succulent. It is a semi tropical plant and is generally found on the continent of Africa and it is native to northern Africa. Aloe Vera plants have lanceote leaves which are fleshy and thick, have a serrated margin and are light green to dark green in color. The plant grows with out a stem or with very short stem and it spreads by offsets and root sprouts.

Aloe Vera has many medicinal qualities. The lower leaf parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes. The edible part of the plant are the leaves and seeds. Aloe Vera liquid is a yellow–orange color and it can be seen when the leaves are cut from the apex. Aloe lives in warm, dry climates and in very harsh growing conditions. The leaves of the Aloe Vera plant store water that enables it to survive in hot and dry inhospitable conditions. The liquid is used in Africa as a solution which when drunk can have an effect like a drug. The great general Alexander the Great used extract from the Aloe Vera plant to cure the wounds of his soldiers. There are also references in the Bible to the uses of Aloe Vera plants. It can be used to cure stomach ailments and it can be used a skin moisturizer in skin care products. The plant was brought from Africa to other climates in the 19th century. Today it is available in many countries and farms have been set up to cultivate Aloe Vera plants. The Aloe Vera plant is often mistaken for a cactus.

Desert plants adapt to the extremes of heat and arid climate by using both physical and behavioral mechanisms. Cactus plants have adapted to the dry conditions of desert atmosphere, arid and semi arid climates. Certain parts of cactus plants are used to deal with the harsh environments where they thrive. Their leaves usually are adapted into thorns. It stops the undue escape of water in the extreme heat. The stems are usually woody and have green succulent structures which contain the chlorophyll needed for growth and sustenance. Most cactus plants are dicotyledonous plants and are flowering plants belonging to the family Cacataceae.

Botanists say there are abut 1650 species of cactus plants. Their leaves have a small surface area to reduce the loss of water from evaporation. They have cushion like structures or areoles and from these structures arise the spines in almost all species. Different types of cacti found in the United States are the button-like peyote, prickly pear, Saguaro and the upright barrel cactus. The flowers on cactus plants are often solitary. They are often large and colorful. Cactus plants are widely used as ornamental plants and cultivated too for this reason. Some species are cultivated as food and the barrel cacti are a source of water for people in an emergency.

At Artificial Plants and Trees we carry a wide selection of succulents, Aloe Vera and cactus plants that mimic the plants you will see in nature.