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Peruvian Apple Cactus
''Cereus repandus'' (syn. ''Cereus peruvianus''), the Peruvian apple cactus, is a large, erect, thorny columnar cactus found in South America. It is also known as giant club cactus, hedge cactus, ''cadushi'' (in Papiamento and WayuunaikiVillalobos ''et al.'' (2007)), and ''kayush''. ''Cereus repandus'' is grown mostly as an ornamental plant, but has some local culinary importance. The Wayuu from the La Guajira Peninsula of Colombia and Venezuela also use the inner cane-like wood of the plant in wattle and daub construction. Description With an often tree-like appearance, its cylindrical gray-green to blue stems can reach in height and 10–20 cm in diameter as a self-supporting plant. However, if supported by a scaffold, ''C. repandus'' has grown to a height of at the SDM College of Dental Sciences at Dharwad, Karnataka, India, technically making this the tallest cactus plant in the world, although no cactus under natural conditions exceeds in height in the case of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular ''The Gardeners Dictionary''. Life Born in Deptford or Greenwich, Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death. According to the botanist Peter Collinson, who visited the physic garden in July 1764 and recorded his observation in his commonplace books, Miller "has raised the reputation of the Chelsea Garden so much that it excels all the gardens of Europe for its amazing variety of plants of all orders and classes and from all climates..." He wrote ''The Gardener's and Florists Dictionary or a Complete System of Horticulture'' (1724) and ''The Gardener's Dictionary containing the Methods of Cultivating and Improving the Kitchen Fruit and Flower Garden'', which first appeared in 1731 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitaya
A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' (formerly ''Hylocereus''), both in the family Cactaceae. Dragon fruit is cultivated in Peru, Mexico, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, Mesoamerica and throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Vernacular names These fruits are commonly known in English as "dragon fruit", a name used since 1963, apparently resulting from the leather-like skin and prominent scaly spikes on the fruit exterior. The names ''pitahaya'' and ''pitaya'' derive from Mexico, and ''pitaya roja'' in Central America and northern South America, possibly relating to pitahaya for names of tall cacti species with flowering fruit. The fruit may also be known as a ''strawberry pear''. Geography Pitahaya or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Fruits
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks, which consequently break in pieces. Although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter, and the resulting fragments and rubble strewn over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Agriculture
Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, cash crops (normally crops grown for export) are also included in the definition. When people discuss the tropics, it is normal to use generalized labels to group together similar tropical areas. Common terms would include the humid-tropics (rainforests); the arid-tropics (deserts and dry areas); or monsoon zones (those areas that have well defined wet/dry seasons and experience monsoons). Such labeling is very useful when discussing agriculture, because what works in one area of the world will normally work in a similar area somewhere else, even if that area is on the opposite side of the globe. Most temperate zone agricultural techniques are inappropriate for tropical areas. The second half of the 20th century saw many attempts to dupli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cereus (plant)
''Cereus'' ( "serious") is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae) including around 33 species of large columnar cacti from South America. The name is derived from Greek (κηρός) and Latin words meaning "wax", "torch" or "candle". ''Cereus'' was one of the first cactus genera to be described; the circumscription varies depending on the authority. The term "cereus" is also sometimes used for a ceroid cactus, any cactus with a very elongated body, including columnar growth cacti and epiphytic cacti. Description ''Cereus'' are shrubby or treelike, often attaining great heights ('' C. hexagonus, C. lamprospermus, C. trigonodendron ''up to ). Most stems are angled or distinctly ribbed, ribs long, usually well developed and have large areoles, usually bearing spines. Cephalium is not present; '' C. mortensenii'' develops pseudocephalium. The flowers are large, funnelform, long, usually white, sometimes pink, purple, rarely cream, yellow, greenish, and open at n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stenocereus Griseus ''Stenocereus griseus'', also known as the Mexican organ pipe, dagger cactus, pitaya, and pitayo de mayo, is a species of cactus. Description This tree-like cactus can grow up to 9 m tall, with stems up to 12 cm in diameter. Depending on the cactus, the color of the f |
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