Origen y evolución de los cactus
Resumen
The family Cactaceae comprises leafless plants with fleshy stems of different shapes and sizes on which are borne clusters of spines. This family includes approximately 130 genera with 1850 known species of the order Caryophyllales, the classification of the cactus family recognizes four subfamilies of which Pereskiae is basal within the Cactaceae and it is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In this article, we will review how leafy plants evolved into the leafless succulent cactus. The first cacti are thought to have been slightly succulent like shrubs or small trees whose leaves performed photosynthesis and probably lived in tropical areas that experienced periodic drought. Besides, the first cacti already exhibited water use patterns that are similar to the leafless, stem-succulent cacti.
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