Well some people said in Las Vegas nevada there are cacti that shoot thorns they seemed like it was no deal and were serious but didn't know the species name does anyone know if cacti can do that or the name of the species?

OK, who's supplying guns to cacti?

Although you have to congratulate them on their sharpshooting.



Fred

I've been keeping cactus for about 20 years and i've never heard of a plant that shoots spines, i have one called Opuntia Microdasys which has fine hairs instead of spines and if you brush past it they come off and stick in your skin (then it's a bit of a job to get them all off). Appart from that the only way i get spines in my hand is if one breaks off. They've never shot me (yet )

The bain of keeping Opuntia and one reason why I only have a few nowadays. Called glochids they are very fine, barbed spines and may cause skin irritation for weeks.

And that's where one got the name Jumping Cactus. It doesn't, though. One of the Chollas.

Aidan,
Tell me about it. I used to be keen on cacti and I still have a few species including Opuntia (Tunilla) soehrensii.
I only keep it out of sentiment as I think it's the most evil plant I've ever come across . The only way to detatch it from your skin is by using a comb to avoid touching it, I keep one next to it just-in-case.
Otherwise it's like Br'er Rabbit fighting the Tar-Baby.
Cheers,
T.

Well I guess it was not true.

What a perfect analogy :-)

Mine used to live in my brother's bedroom - he was the only one with a South facing windowsill. You can imagine how popular I was...