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Ironhyde36 t1_j1us723 wrote

Was wondering if you got to check out the cacti that grow up here in the mountains an hills in Montana. We have a cacti that grows across the ground up here. It survives the harsh winters up here and I was curious why it lives but other cacti die. They freeze then when they thaw out they turn to mush but the Montana cacti that grows higher and colder on the mountains live?

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IsraelinSF t1_j1vin6n wrote

I have not studied specifically the cacti in Montana. The adaptations that enable cacti to grow in the desert are the same that enable them to grow in extreme cold. The common factor between extreme cold and desert is drought. In the desert there is less water, and in freezing areas there is less water in liquid-form. The cacti are part of the CAM plant family, which open their stomata at night, thereby minimising water loss.

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