I got this cactus from a friend, but I am not sure if it is really a cactus. It could also be a succulent other than cacti. Does anyone know what species this is?
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All cacti are succulents (i.e. they store water in the plant and/or in the roots) but not all succulents are cacti. In common usage "succulent" usually means "succulent but not a cactus". Your plant IS a cactus, but I don't recognize the species. – alephzero Dec 26 '18 at 22:53
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Thanks for explaining the difference, @alephzero, you must think I am a newbie. No problem. How do you know it is a cactus? And not a succulent such as *Euphorbia*? Can you explain how you see that difference? – benn Dec 27 '18 at 09:09
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Definitely not a cactus, I think it's a Euphorbia of some sort. It doesn't have areoles on each tubercle, which cactus most definitely have. – Tim Nevins Dec 27 '18 at 13:22
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@TimNevins, alright so the areoles is something cacti really must have. Thanks for the tip. – benn Dec 27 '18 at 15:37
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I searched for an image similar to this and didn't find anything. I suspect that this plant looks quite different when it's more mature. I'm not a succulent expert, so I may be completely wrong. – Tim Nevins Dec 31 '18 at 18:34
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1Thanks for the effort @TimNevins, it's a plant I have never seen before either. My guess is a *Euphorbia*, that genus has so many strange looking members... – benn Dec 31 '18 at 20:41