Succulent plants store water in their leaves, roots and stems and have much thicker leaves than other plants. The word succulent comes from the Latin word ‘sucus’, meaning juice, or sap. They are drought-resistant plants and have adapted to living in dry environments especially well.
What is CAM?
Succulent plants store water in their leaves and stems and therefore can withstand long periods without water. This is described as Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM).
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism is a carbon fixing pathway that has evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. The Stomata (air holes) in the leaves are closed during the day to reduce evapotranspiration and open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO2). Succulents have reduced stomata and photosynthesise from its stems rather than its leaves.
Hence, succulents require a completely dark period of at least 8 hours to take in CO2.
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