ArticlePhilosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences2016
Hierarchical structures of cactus spines that aid in the directional movement of dew droplets.
Article in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Recent Advances and Retrospective Review in Bioinspired Structures for Fog Water Collection.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Survival Is Skin Deep: Toughness of the Outer Cactus Stem with Insights for Technical Envelopes.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Direct force measurement of microscopic droplets pulled along soft surfaces.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Elastic and collapsible: current understanding of cell walls in succulent plants.Journal of experimental botany · 2022Review
- Morphology and Anatomy of Branch-Branch Junctions inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Water Sorption and Desorption of Isolated Cuticles From Three Woody Species With Focus onFrontiers in plant science · 2021Article
- Biological and bioinspired materials: Structure leading to functional and mechanical performance.Bioactive materials · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Three species of cactus whose spines act as dew harvesters were chosen for this study: Copiapoa cinerea var. haseltoniana, Mammillaria columbiana subsp. yucatanensis and Parodia mammulosa and compared with Ferocactus wislizenii whose spines do not perform as dew harvesters. Time-lapse snapshots of C. cinerea showed movement of dew droplets from spine tips to their base, even against gravity. Spines emanating from one of the areoles of C. cinerea were submerged in water laced with fluorescent nanoparticles and this particular areole with its spines and a small area of stem was removed and imaged. These images clearly showed that fluorescent water had moved into the stem of the plant. Lines of vascular bundles radiating inwards from the surface areoles (from where the spines emanate) to the core of the stem were detected using magnetic resonance imaging, with the exception of F. wislizenii that does not harvest dew on its spines. Spine microstructures were examined using SEM images and surface roughness measurements (Ra and Rz) taken of the spines of C. cinerea It was found that a roughness gradient created by tapered microgrooves existed that could potentially direct surface water from a spine tip to its base.This article is part of the themed issue 'Bioinspired hierarchically structured surfaces for green science'.
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