Is there naturally occurring cactus in Egypt?

Question

In my Pre-K class we asked the kids what they knew about Egypt. One little girl said that there is cactus in Egypt…we told her that there may be but we weren’t sure. Anyone know?

Dr. Kole Osinski V · Accepted Answer

Cacti are almost exclusively New World plants. This means that they are native only in North America, South America, and the West Indies. There is however one exception, Rhipsalis baccifera; this species has a pantropical distribution, occurring in the Old World tropical Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka as well as in tropical America. This plant is thought to be a relatively recent colonist in the Old World (within the last few thousand years), probably carried as seeds in the digestive tracts of migratory birds. Many other cacti have become naturalized to similar environments in other parts of the world after being introduced by people. The Tehuacán Valley of Mexico has one of the richest occurrences of cacti in the world.[4]

Dr. Kole Osinski V · Answer

No, there are no cacti naturally occurring in Egypt. The cactus family is almost completely New World. The one exception is Rhipsalis baccifera, which is found in tropical Africa, but not as far north as Egypt.

Dr. Kole Osinski V · Answer

What everyone else has said is true. But there are prickly, cactus-like Euphorbia species in north Africa. The picture at the link is of a species that occurs naturally in Morocco and similar species occur naturally in other areas of northern Africa. These look very like a cactus but are in a completely different family that has some species that show similar adaptations to dry conditions … the easiest way to tell this kind of “false cactus” is that it always has its spines in pairs and has milky sap.

Jayce Wintheiser

Is there naturally occurring cactus in Egypt?

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