Cactuses are the easiest houseplants

Succulents, which are plants with fleshy stems or leaves, are ideal houseplants. They have interesting shapes, are relatively pest-free, and thrive in the dry air of a heated home — and on neglect.

Let’s look at cactuses, which are just one kind of succulent.

Cactuses are native only to the Americas, having evolved 60 million years ago when upward-pushing mountains transformed the then-lush tropical climate of the western Americas to desert. With thick stems for water storage, an absence of leaves, which reduces water loss, and waxy coatings to hold in water, the cactus family thrived despite parched conditions.

The cactus family is varied in morphology and use. Visual oddities abound. The old-man cactus (Cephalocereus senilis) has a shaggy covering of long, hoary “hair.” The lamb’s-tail cactus (Wilcoxia senilis) has slender stems which seem to pour out from the swollen root that protrudes above the soil line. Some of the moon cactuses (Gymnocalycium spp.) have had their green chlorophyll bred out of them, so they are now red. Without chlorophyll, they can’t survive, so they are grafted on top of other cactuses.

Some cactuses are good food. The pulp of the barrel cactus (Echinocactus spp.) can be pickled. This cactus resembles a large pincushion stuck full of pins; it’s called “mother-in-law’s chair” in Germany.

Opuntia cactuses are the most common edible cactuses. You can find these fruits, called prickly pears, tunas or nochtli (if you are Aztec), in food markets. The flavor is akin to a refreshing, very seedy watermelon. The flat pads of this cactus are cooked and eaten as a vegetable — after the spines are rubbed off.

Cactuses commonly have spectacular flowers, made more dramatic by their prickly pedestals. Cactuses such as mammilaria, notocactus, lobivia and rebutia bloom indoors with very little coaxing (rebutia often blooming twice each year).

Caring for a cactus is easy and can be summed up as follows: Provide good drainage by adding extra sand or perlite to any potting mix. Do not overwater.