There are many species of cacti. But there are also many plants that look like cacti, but they aren’t. In this post, we will give you a list of plants that look like cacti, but they are different plants. This will help you with your cactus selection and general knowledge when choosing cacti.
How are cacti different from other plants?
Remember one phrase: all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. There are many succulents that look like cacti, but they are not. Many succulents also have spines that make them look like cacti.
Features that make cacti different from other plants include:
- Areoles – only cacti have those. These are cushiony pads – spines, flowers and fruits grow from these spots. Even if a plant has spines, but doesn’t have areoles, it’s not a cactus.
- Cacti have spines and they are independent organs. If you try to pull a cactus spine, it should break without pulling the epidermis (skin). In other plants, spines grow from epidermis and will break the skin if pulled.
- Cactus flowers are unique and only last for maximum a week.
Plants that look like cacti, but aren’t:
- Aloe
- Yucca
- Haworthia
- Stapelia
- Pachypodium
- Agave
- Euphorbia
- Ocotillo, or Fouquieria splendens
- Echeveria
- Gasteria
- Ice plants, or Aizoaceae
- Huernia
- Lithops
Aloe
Aloe is a succulent plant that looks like a cactus. This plant is very popular in medicine as it has a lot of health benefits. There are more than 450 species of aloe.
Aloe also has spikes on the stems and produces flowers in summer. Once again, it is a succulent, but not a cactus. Aloe Vera is the most popular species.
Yucca
Yucca plants are shrubs or sometimes trees. These plants get very large and have a lot of leaves that point in different directions. What makes them look like cacti is that they grow mostly in cacti places and their leaves are very sharp. It is also resistant to drought, doesn’t need much watering, and needs a well draining soil, just like cacti.
Haworthia
Haworthia is a beautiful succulent that has thick and upward growing leaves and often little spikes on them. They originate from Southern Africa. Their leaves form rosettes.
Many species of Haworthia have sharp leaf tips and sharp sides on the leaves, and they also grow slowly and live a long life. Some plants have rough texture leaves. Most Haworthia plants are very small and resemble aloe plants.
Stapelia
Stapelia are gorgeous succulent plants originating from Africa. This plant also blooms, and the flower is often very strange – red/brown in color, in a shape of a star, very hairy and smells bad! The plant itself has small spines on the leaves (they are not sharp), resembling cacti. This plant is very unique, but is not a cactus.
Pachypodium
Pachypodium are succulent plants that are shrubs or trees. These plants are very unique, and their trunk is very thick and can store water to survive drought. Pachypodium’s trunk is often covered with spines – and the top has leaves.
Top of the plant has leaves and it resembles a palm tree. This plant grows very slowly and its spines don’t regenerate. Pachypodium even flowers (large white flowers) 4-6 years after optimal growth.
Agave
Agave (on the left) growing near a cactus
Agave, or a Century plant, is a plant in the genus of monocots that has some similarities to cactus. Some species of agave are used to make tequila, sweetener and some medicines.
These Agave plants have big thick leaves which grow upwards and often have a sharp tip. These plants grow mostly in South America – in hot and dry places where you can also find cacti. They also look similar to aloe.
- Euphorbia
This is Euphorbia Canariensis, or Canadian spurge
Euphorbia, also called spurge, is a group of plants that look a lot like cacti. There are many species of this plant, and most of them have spines and also flower. Their spines look very similar to those in cacti, but they don’t grow from areoles.
Their flowers are also often small, and cacti have mostly large flowers. What is more, Euphorbia plants secrete a white fluid that contains latex, and cacti don’t have that in the stem. Euphorbia probably look the most like cacti.
Ocotillo, or Fouquieria splendens
Ocotillo looks a lot like cactus, but it is not a true cactus. They are also called Jacob’s cactus, desert coral and many other names. Ocotillo are large plants, and have spines on their leaves, resembling cacti.
These plants grow in Southwestern US and Mexico, and can be found growing near cacti. Ocotillo plant has a thick base and stems with leaves (that might be missing) that are growing upwards, which gives it a look of a stick. They also flower.
Echeveria
This is Echeveria Meridian
Echeveria might not look too much like a cactus, but some people refer to them as Echeveria cacti. These are stonecrop plants that form rosettes. They also grow in quite dry conditions and also flower.
These are commonly named hens and chicks. There are many plants in this genus, and many of them form rosettes. Many other plants have hen and chick appearance, for example plants in the genus of Sempervivum.
Gasteria
Gasteria is a succulent plant that someone people confuse with a cactus. This is because Gasteria have thick base and thick leaves, which often have small spikes on them. Gasteria are mainly found in South Africa and also flower, producing beautiful curved flowers.
Ice Plants, or Aizoaceae
Ice plants are in a large genus of plants, with over 1600 species. They very much resemble Rhipsalis cactus and some of them resemble Lithops, or stone plants. They grow in South Africa and New Zealand.
Huernia
Huernia is a genus of succulent plants that grow in Africa. These plants and very similar to Stapelia – they have long stems with spikes on them. Their flowers are also bell, or star shaped. Flowers are very bright, and usually of different colors and textures.
They also often have an unpleasant smell, similarly to flowers of Stapelia. The spines on the plants make them look a lot like cacti. Huernia pillansii, especially, looks almost identical to a cactus.
Lithops, or Aizoaceae
Lithops are small stone plants, and are also in the ice plant family. They are very unique plants, that are very small, round and also bloom. Lithops, or living stones, originate from southern Africa. We have an article about Lithops care, and you can read more about them here.