Confusion surrounds the Christmas cactus, its different varieties, botanical names, care tips, and its unique growth environment in the Brazilian rainforest.
There’s a popular plant that causes confusion, the Christmas cactus. We call them Christmas cactus even though they’re blooming now. Mine opened its first flower in time for Halloween. Some call them Thanksgiving cactus because they flower in between ours and the U.S Thanksgiving, and often a second time later in winter. And of course, in different countries and cultures, the common names will be different.
If you have one that does flower around Christmas, lucky you because you have a true CC. They aren’t often sold anymore because they bloom too late to attract sales and are easily upstaged by Christmas decorations. Often, that plant is typically passed on by way of cuttings from friends or family. We could use the botanical names of these two plants, but I can see that wouldn’t go down too well on the labels. But you asked — or someone did.
The Thanksgiving cactus is a cultivated variety of Schlumbergera truncata. The true CC is Schlumbergera x buckleyi, a hybrid. The flowers are similar but the leaves are slightly different. On the Thanksgiving version they’re serrated with tiny hooks along the edges. The leaves on Christmas cactus are more rounded with scalloped edges.
And we mustn’t forget about the Easter cactus. The name alone and time of flowering is enough to distinguish it from the other two. It is related and has slightly different flowers and leaves with rounded edges, however, the botanical name has been changed a few times. If you need to know it’s currently .
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They are in the cactus family and they are succulents, storing water in the leaves, but you won’t find any growing in a desert. They grow in the nooks and crannies on trees in the rainforest down in eastern Brazil. They’re not parasites, but epiphytes, like many orchids, absorbing moisture and nutrients from the environment around them.
And that’s the way they like their water — rainforest style — humid with a good soaking followed by an almost dry spell. As for flowering, down in that Brazilian rainforest it can be dark at night, very dark, and dark is what’s needed to ensure blooming. A bright location during the day then at least 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness at night. A humid bathroom with a window would be ideal, providing lights aren’t turned on in the middle of the night when someone is wandering about, lost in the dark.
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Still confused about your plant? Just enjoy it whatever it is.
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DH
David Hobson is a Waterloo-based writer and a freelance contributor for the Record.
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