Cactus
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material where there is a lack of either natural resources or financial means to construct a permanent fence. This is often seen in arid and warm climates, such as the Masai Mara in Kenya. This is known as a cactus fence. Cactus fences are often used by homeowners and landscape architects for home security purposes. The sharp thorns of the cactus deter unauthorized persons from entering private properties, and may prevent break-ins if planted under windows and near drainpipes. The aesthetic characteristics of some species, in conjunction with their home security qualities, makes them a considerable alternative to artificial fences and walls. As well as garden plants, many cactus species have important commercial uses, some cacti bear edible fruit, such as the prickly pear and Hylocereus, which produces Dragon fruit or Pitaya. According
to Reuters, the edible cactus, or nopal, industry in Mexico is worth $150 million each year and approximately 10,000 farmers cultivate the plant. Opuntia are also used as host plants for cochineal bugs in the cochineal dye industry in Central America. The Peyote, Lophophora williamsii, is a well-known psychoactive agent used by Native Americans in the Southwest of the United States of America. Some species of Echinopsis (previously Trichocereus) also have psychoactive properties. For example, the San Pedro cactus, a common specimen found in many garden centers, is known to contain mescaline. The word cactus is derived through Latin from the Greek κάκτος kaktos, which referred to the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). Linnaeus in 1753 applied this name generically to a genus he called Cactus, which was later reassigned as a family, Cactaceae, and subdivided into multiple genera. Cactuses, the Latin plural cacti, and the uninflected plural cactus are all used in English.
Etymology