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cactus|ˈkæktəs|
[a. L. cactus, a. Gr. κάκτος a prickly plant found in Sicily, the Cardoon or Spanish Artichoke (Cynara Cardunculus): taken by Linnæus as the generic name of the entirely different plants now so called.]
†1. In ancient Nat. Hist.: The Cardoon. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 102 There is a kinde of thorn called Cactus. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Cactus..the general acceptation of the word is, that it signifies the artichoak. 1803Rees Cycl., Cactus, the name of a plant described first by Theophrastus.
2. The generic name of many succulent plants remarkable for their thick fleshy stems, generally without leaves, and armed with curious clusters of spines; they have usually few branches or none, and are often of grotesque shape, with flowers of great beauty and sweetness. The Linnæan genus Cactus is now subdivided into about 20 genera, as Cereus, Echinocactus, Opuntia, etc., constituting the family Cactaceæ, all of which however are popularly cactuses.
1767J. Abercrombie Ev. Man own Gard. (1803) Index, Cactus, or Melon and Torch-thistle. 1807G. Gregory Dict. Arts & Sc. I. 283/3 Cactus, melon thistle..in the natural method ranking under the 13th order Succulentæ. 1814Lunan Hortus Jamaic. I. 413 The slender parasitical currant cactus or Indian fig. 1836Macgillivray Humboldt's Trav. iv. 63 Cactuses rose here and there, from a scanty soil. 1843Prescott Mexico (1850) I. 13 The device of the eagle and the cactus..the arms of the modern Mexican republic.
3. attrib., as in cactus tribe, cactus family, etc.; cactus thorn, etc.; cactus dahlia, a Mexican dahlia, so called from its cactus-like flame-coloured flower; cactus wren U.S., a North American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, frequenting cactus plants.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. vi. 119 To make rag-dolls, and stick cactus-thorns into them. 1869Amer. Naturalist III. 183 The Rock Wren..and Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) chirrup loudly. 1870H. Macmillan Bible Teach. vii. 135 In the cactus tribe, the whole plant consists of jointed leaves. 1881Daily News 14 Sept. 2/6 The latest importation from Mexico..the cactus dahlia, ‘Juarezii’. 1881Amer. Naturalist XV. 211 The cactus wren, so called from its habit of nesting in the cactus whenever available. 1882Garden 19 Aug. 156/2 What a brilliant flower is that of the Cactus Dahlia. |