![]() ![]() The holiday cactus is not your typical cactus. We are all familiar with the desert cactus but the holiday plant is a forest cactus-an epiphyte that lives in decomposing leaf litter found in the forks and on the branches of trees in tropical rain forests of South America. Photos and graphic by Caroline Shotton Caring For Your Holiday Cactus Additionally, the Christmas cactus is more difficult to ship as the stems are more fragile and often break. Most nurseries and stores actually sell the Thanksgiving cactus (not Christmas cactus) because it blooms around American Thanksgiving. While the Christmas cactus stems hang down like a pendent, the Thanksgiving cactus has stems that grow upright at first and then arch.The Thanksgiving cactus has a very toothy stem with two to four pointed teeth.The true Christmas cactus has a flattened stem segments with smooth, scalloped edges.It can start flowering in very late October or in November. The Thanksgiving cactus has flowers that face outwards and the plant comes in a wide range of colors. This plant blooms nearer to Thanksgiving than the Christmas cactus.The range of flowering is late November through early February. The Christmas cactus has hanging flowers in shades of magenta and blooms, of course, near Christmas.Look at their bloom color and the way the flower blooms: Many of the plants available for sale are hybrid crosses of Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) that come in a rainbow of exotic colors including orange, purple, yellow, red, pink, white, and two-tones. More Ways to Tell a Christmas Cactus from a Thanksgiving Cactus Their star-shaped petals open at sunrise and close at sunset and last for several weeks. If you find that your holiday cactus has spring flowers, it may very well be an Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) blooms in late winter and spring, often from March until May.Īlso called a “Spring Cactus,” the Easter Cactus has flaring, trumpet-shaped flowers with pointy petals which are usually pink, but can also come in red, orange, and other cherry colors. Photo: Thanksgiving Cactus growing in garden center. Its leaf segments are square shaped with pointed hooks on one end and along the sides like pincers, giving rise to its common name “crab cactus.” It is native to Brazil, where its 2 to 3 inch long, satiny flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds. Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) typically blooms between mid-November and late December, sometimes through January. Just pinch off a “Y” shaped piece from one of the branches and stick it in a pot of sterile soil or vermiculite. I have a plant that came from one my mother-in-law grew from a cutting she received over 70 years ago! They are the ultimate pass-along plant since they are so easy to root. Christmas CactusĬhristmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is the long-lived plant our grandmothers grew. Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti are members of the genus Schlumbergera, while the Easter cactus is in the genus Rhipsalidopsis, which grows in drier forests. The holiday designations reflect when the different cacti bloom in North America! Holiday cacti such as the Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, and Easter cactus are hybrids of Brazilian forest cacti. ![]()
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