First of all I want to thank @kus-knee (The Old Dog) for calling and curating a beautiful contest on the fabulous platform https://www.palnet.io/ such as The Succulent Succulents Contest! This is a great opportunity to share our amazement at the beauty and perfection of our mother, nature... The contest rules are here

As its Latin name Suculentus, which means "very juicy", clearly indicates, succulent plants are those that have modified some part of their organism in order to use it for greater water storage, which gives them a significant advantage in relation to the rest of the plants that live in xerophilic zones. It is important to clarify that the term Succulent implies a merely descriptive category since, in reality, the different species of plants known as succulents are not genetically related to each other.

Succulents represent a clear example of what a process of convergent evolution through which different families of plant species have developed similar adaptive mechanisms, whether or not they share traits and characteristics. As a result of their ability to adapt to arid or hostile environments, where water supply and collection is quite limited, succulent plants have transformed difficulties into opportunities, allowing them to successfully colonize ecological niches where herbivorous animals are scarce and where they encounter little competition from other plant species.

To maximize their ability to exploit the low humidity present in the environment, a good amount of succulents are pubescent, ie its surface is covered with hairs that retain the valuable dew that is present as a result of condensation of water present in the morning air. Obviously, this has the added advantage of driving away possible predators.

The most typical examples of succulence are presented in the family Cactaceae, the cactus, which present modified leaves in the form of thorns and whose succulent stems have the capacity to perform photosynthesis. In addition there is the family Euphorbiaceae, whose specimens are often confused with cacti because many have the same adaptation in their stems, which become true water deposits. Another example, but they have no stems but succulent leaves is found in the family Agavaceae, the best known of which is the Agave, from which are extracted two emblematic Mexican drinks such as Tequila and Mezcal. In Venezuela we have a variety, perhaps less famous but equally productive, the plant Agave cocui, from which is distilled a noble alcoholic beverage that I recommend you try if you have the opportunity, which has the name of Cocuy. In this photo I show a bottle of cocuy with hot pepper that a friend prepares handcrafted.

They should not be confused with another variety of succulents such as the subfamily Asphodelaceae, among which stands out the well-known Aloe vera, of wide and recognized prestige in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry. In Venezuela it is known as Sábila and in the photo I include a variety called Sábila of garden.

Finally, although the list is longer, I must refer to another variety of succulents that also store water in their leaves as is the family Crassulaceae which is characterized by including fleshy plants, rather hard to touch, and very striking appearance. For its propagation it is enough to sow in ground a simple leaf so that a new specimen is born. In the photo I include a specimen of Repollito, that is Little cabbage, quite common in Venezuela.

I have to tell you that I took the picture with my obsolete Samsung phone in the garden of my house. These beautiful succulents were semi-abandoned in a relative's house, so I adopted them. Just as some good people adopt abandoned animals, I do the same, but with plants...

To verify and expand the information I have shared with you in this post I have consulted several articles from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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