CACTACEAE
Morphological description
Succulent, more or less woody plants; usually leafless, spiny.
Leaves
Leaves.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence.
Flowers
Flower bisexual; actinomorphic, perianth of many un-differentiated parts; stamens many; ovary inferior, 1-locular, ovules many.
Fruits
Fruit a berry.
Seeds
Seeds.
Different from: Aizoaceae: unarmed, perianth 4- or 5-lobed, fruit capsular.
Distribution: The family is almost confined to America; several species introduced and some naturalized in Malesia.
Notes: Ornamentals: Cereus, Epiphyllum, Pereskia, Zygocactus. - Edible fruit: Opuntia.
Literature: C.A. Backer & R.C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Fl. Java 1 (1963) 315- 318.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): 38.
Illustrations: Fig. 38. Epiphyllum oxypetalum Haw. (Cactaceae). Reproduced from Hsuan Keng, Orders and Families of Malayan Seed plants (1978) fig. 58. With kind permission of Prof. and Mrs. Keng.
Image in PhytoImages for Cactaceae