I have a house plant I'm trying to ID. It is a type of cacti I believe. It is an upright clump about one foot tall with thorns all the way up the stem. The leaves have very short petioles and look as though they are almost whorled around the stem. The leaves are smooth leathery and have entire margins, they are about 3 inches in length and about 3/4 of an inch wide. It is almost always in bloom with small pink terminally born flowers. I wasn't watering it much because I thought it was a type of cactus but it started dropping its leaves. It has done better since I started watering it more. Can somebody help me out?
Hello kylej1, Definitely not a cactus--cactus never have actual leaves. Your plant might be Euphorbia milii. They are fairly common in the market and in bloom much of the time.
Euphorbia milii is correct. Thank you very much. I was right about the moisture, watering regularly helps it retain it's leaves. Pereskia could be an exception, thanks for the responses.
I stand corrected. Thanks Junglekeeper. I don't remember where I heard that no cactus had leaves, but it is clearly incorrect. I really don't know much about cactus. Pereskioideae is an interesting subfamily of Cactaceae that have true leaves and may the earliest members of the family. Pereskiopsis, Maihuenia, Quiabentia and Austrocylindropuntia are other genera of Cactaceae that have leaves.