Acitrón barrel cactus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Acitrón barrel cactus |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Ferocactus |
| Species: |
F. histrix
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| Binomial name | |
| Ferocactus histrix (DC.) G.E. Linds. 1955
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The Acitrón barrel cactus (its scientific name is Ferocactus histrix) is a cool type of cactus that grows in central Mexico. People also call it Biznaga barril de acitrón. It's a big, round cactus, shaped like a barrel. You can find it all over the Central Mexican matorral, which is a dry, shrubby area. This cactus even grows a fruit that you can eat! It tastes a bit sour.
What Does It Look Like?
This cactus grows into a big, round ball, like a giant green globe. It doesn't have branches. After many years, it can grow taller than 1 meter (about 3.3 feet). Older plants have many ridges, called ribs, on their stems. They can have between 25 and 40 ribs.
The spines on this cactus are light yellow. On older cacti, these spines can be longer than 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches). The skin of a grown-up cactus is a pretty blue-green color.
This cactus makes yellow flowers that are medium-sized. They bloom from early spring to late spring. The fruits usually ripen by summer. The plant needs to be at least 10 years old before it can flower. But if people grow it in special gardens, it might flower a bit sooner.
Like other cacti, if the very top growing part (called the apical meristem) gets hurt, the plant can still grow. It will make new shoots from tiny spots called areoles, which are near the top of the stem.
Where Does It Grow?
You can find the Acitrón barrel cactus in many parts of central Mexico. It grows from east to west in states like Hidalgo, Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. This means it's one of the barrel cacti that grows across a very large area.
It likes to grow in dry, shrubby areas. You can also find it on the sides of volcanoes where the ground is rocky.
See also
In Spanish: Ferocactus histrix para niños
