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Rhipsalis: Epiphytic cacti
Would you expect to find cacti in the canopy of a tropical rain forest?
Probably not, yet cacti are perfectly suited to an epiphytic lifestyle on the
branches of the huge rain forest trees. They’re highly resistant to drought and
direct sunlight. More than 100 species of cacti from several different genera
flourish in the tropical forest canopy. Like almost all cacti, they’re limited
to the Americas. Only the tree- and rock-dwelling genus Rhipsalis has
made the leap across the Atlantic, and is found also in Africa, Madagascar, and
even Sri Lanka.
Epiphytic cacti don’t look that much like their ground-dwelling relatives. Their
typical green, water-storing trunks have often developed into flattened, leafy shapes
or long, thin, hanging rods, and most have lost their characteristic spines.
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Rhipsalis: Epiphytic cacti (MP3, 383 KB)
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