Cactus

The Cactus is a combative, projectile based plant that acts as the the primary defense against Balloon Zombies. The Cactus could be inspired by any number of members of the genus Cactaceae, but it most resembles a Saguaro Cactus, albeit with a red flower instead of a white one.



Suburban Almanac Entry
Cactus

Cactuses shoot spikes that can hit both ground and air targets.

Damage: normal

Range: ground and air

She's prickly, sure, but Cactus' spikes belie a spongy heart filled with love and goodwill. She just wants to hug and be hugged. Most folks can't hang with that, but Cactus doesn't mind. She's been seeing an armadillo for a while and it really seems to be working out.

Cost: 125

Recharge: fast

Usage
The Cactus is essentially a Peashooter that shoots spikes, with the distinction of being able to stretch several feet vertically to pop Balloon Zombies. The damage they deal is the same amount as a Cattail.

Strategy
Build a column of them to keep your lawn safe from Balloon Zombies. They also make a good substitute for the Peashooter on any level you might encounter Balloon Zombies. Although the cost difference is negligible, there is a disadvantage that if even a single Balloon Zombie comes into the lane, all of the Cacti will rise and fire at it. If there are no Balloon Zombies, however, you may be better off with Peashooters. It is cheaper in pool levels to use 2 Cattails instead of six Cacti.

Trivia

 * The Cactus is one of the 3 non-explosive plants that can get rid of the Balloon Zombie. The two others are the Cattail and the Blover.
 * In the loading screen, her mouth is higher than usual.
 * Even though the Cactus and the Cattail have the same projectile, the Cactus's projectile is faster that the Cattail's, but shoots at a longer interval.
 * If stretching, the Cactus has the height of a Tall-nut.
 * The Cactus is one of few plants mentioned with a love life.
 * The Cactus, the Cattail and the Sea-shroom are the only projectile-shooting plants having a projectile which has a color not similar to the plant's color.
 * The Cactus cannot work on the slope (except for the 5th row) on Roof levels. This is strange because the Cactus can stretch to the height of a Tall-nut, but does not do that to shoot at approaching zombies on the roof.
 * Cactus is one of the twelve plants that appear in the seed selection screen after you get the Grave Buster on the online version, the others being: Ice-shroom, Lily Pad, Potato Mine, Threepeater, Tangle Kelp, Jalapeno, Spikeweed, Torchwood, Tall-nut, Doom-shroom and Blover.
 * On the loading screen, her pollen balls are red but during gameplay they are yellow, and in I, Zombie, her pollen balls are orange.
 * In the Mini-game Portal Combat, when a Cactus shoots a high spike, it will not float over a portal which is weird because the spikes seems to be high enough to pass over it.
 * If there are two Balloon Zombies the Cactus will shoot three spikes, possibly because the Cactus registers three Balloon Zombies.Badge-picture-2.png
 * Cactus and Marigold are the only plants referred to as female.
 * The Cactus and Cattail are the only spike-shooting plants.
 * If there are two Cacti in one lane both will shoot at the Balloon Zombie; one will hit it, one will not.
 * When the Cactus targets a Balloon Zombie far away, it shoots 2 spikes.
 * Even with her prickly body, Cactus is as vulnerable as a normal plant.
 * The Cactus has a much narrower mouth than most other shooting plants.
 * Cactus' sun is 100 in Versus Mode, the same amount used by Peashooter.
 * Cactus is the equivalent of Imitater Peashooter in Versus Mode.
 * However, spikes shot through Torchwood are unaffected, giving the Cactus a slight disadvantage against the Peashooter.
 * Cactus and the Cattail both use the same projectile.
 * There is an error in the Cactus' Almanac entry. The entry says "Cactuses shoot spikes that can hit both ground and air targets." The correct form is "Cacti shoot spikes that can hit both ground and air targets."