My boyfriend bought me a plant and brought it home today, 6/5/10/. The tag says that it is known as Cactus Dog Tail Cactus. Aporacactus flagelliformis. But looking at the dpg tail cacti pictures, it really doesn't look like one. And when I searched for Aporacactus flagelliformis, it says rat tail cactus. And my plant looks like two different plants combined in one pot. Idk if you can tell by the pictures, but some are triangle shaped and others are flat. I have been searching all day, and I can't find anything on this plant! PLEASE HELP!!!
Hi Shellylee, Your plant is in the family Cactaceae (cacti) as you suspected. I checked three major scientific plant data bases including the Royal Botanic Garden Kew in London website World Checklist of Selected Plant Families and the name "Aporacactus flagelliformis" is not a valid plant species name. Many names that end up on the Internet are not known to science and are basically made-up by a grower that either misread or couldn't find a correct name. I'm sure you found it but it isn't a real scientific name. Your plant appears to be related to the genus Epiphyllum but I cannot be sure of the genus or species unless the plant produces an inflorescence (group of flowers) and you can get a good photo. Plants in this group are tree dwelling rain forest cacti that like moderately bright light. Despite commonly given instructions on the Internet they like to be watered regularly but the soil base must be very sandy and super fast draining. Since these species live on a tree branch they are regularly watered by Mother Nature and rarely live naturally in soil, certainly not soggy soil. A good cactus mix should work fine. These species rarely live in the wettest part of the forest but they do like water. These pants don’t have leaves. The foliage consists of flattened stems and these are correctly called cladodes. A stem is not the support of a leaf as most people believe but is instead the central supporting axis of a plant. A cladode is simply a modified stem, which is capable of photosynthesis (light gathering) while appearing somewhat like a leaf. Scientists believe it is flattened to facilitate a large surface area for gathering sufficient light while also storing water. However, cladodes should not be called leaves! Cladode producing plants are found almost exclusively within the larger family commonly known as cacti (Cactaceae). Without an inflorescence, which may be colorful, I can't help with a species name, primarily since most sold today are hybrids and not species. The link below is excellent and you might be able to find a similar plant to the one you are growing. However, they’re re many genera (genus) in the tropics so without the inflorescence we are only guessing. This link may help: http://www.ecology.org/ecophoto/articles/Epiphyllum.htm And this article on my website will give you more basic information even though it is not specifically about your plant. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Epiphyllum phyllanthus subsp. phyllanthus pc.html
