My friend told me about a flower her son brought her from a house sale that looks like Lavender Orchid but has leaves similar or the same as a cactus. She said it has the typical "freckles" as an orchid has and you can see the roots. Does anyone know what the name of this plant is and what kind of care it would need? thank-you GMG7
Dear Rima, I quess the best thing to do is see the plant for myself to really give a fitting description. Thats not likely because I'm a busy caregiver. But here in New Jersey I quess I'll assume when a person this side of the U.S. says cactus they mean the fat and round and needle like cactus leaves. I'll ask my friend again though. But I thought since a orchid is pretty unique that when a person saw a cactus the way we know em then when you see a orchid growing outta one, thats pretty unusual. Perhaps theres alot of kinds of orchids also.
If you have an "orchid cactus" you can generally figure it out quickly. Epiphyllum species are often called orchid cactus but the flowers are not similar to a true orchid (3 petals and 3 sepals). In most cases Epiphyllum species have very short lived flowers, usually only a day. They are true members of the cactus family but don't generally have thorns and are tropical plants. The majority of the species are found in Central America. If the flower lasts anytime at all it is not likely an Epiphyllum but something else. If you can post a photo almost certainly someone will be able to ID it for you. Epiphyllum species are normally epiphytes and live in the branches of trees. Their roots are often visible since they will dangle down the side of the tree, however most collectors grow them in pots.
In response to the post there are hundreds, scientifically it appears there may now only be 16 or 17 species. Many of the names of Epiphyllum species are being scientifically melded into a much smaller number of base species. And despite what I said above, science says many do have thorns. They are simply difficult to find. This site may help explain: http://www.ecology.org/ecophoto/articles/Epiphyllum.htm My interest has been minimal in this genus until recently when my interest was perked by some information I could not justify scientifically. In the past week I've read several scientific journal articles and highly recommend the site above.
