Monday, November 8, 2010

Epiphyllum growth

After seeing some beautiful blooming plants at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in June, I purchased some Epiphyllum cuttings a couple of months ago from eBay.  Epiphyllums are the genus of plants commonly referred to as the "Orchid Cactus."

ep_noid_growth
New growth from my non-identified Epiphyllum
The picture above is clearly a cutting from another plant.  It will probably take about 3 years before the plant is mature enough to produce a bloom.  I bought this cutting as an unidentified variety, so I don't know what color the blooms will be when they come.  The plant below is a little more mature and might bloom in another year or two.  This one (below) is the species Epiphyllum anguliger, which has a white bloom and the outer most petals (called "tepals") are light orange or yellow.  The tepals of Epiphyllums are generally much narrower than and a different color from the rest of the petals in the bloom.  Before the bloom actually opens, the tepals are all that you see, so the color is deceiving until the bloom opens.  I have noticed this before with Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera).  You can google image search for "Epiphyllum anguliger" to see pictures of the blooms of my plant below.  Generally Epiphyllums bloom in Spring or Fall, as I understand.

ep_anguliger_growth
New growth on my Epiphullum anguliger

1 comment:

  1. Gee, I have never seen a cactus like this before. FUN! Surprises are always nice. :)

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