Saturday, October 30, 2010

Cactus with Leaves


Learn more about this plant at the Backyard Nature web site.  It is known as the False Cactus, Candelabra Cactus and Dragon Bones.



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you know the oroginal name of this cactus? It's very important!

Michael Popp said...

It is a false cactus being that it is a member of teh Spurge Family.

The plant is known by these names Candelabra Cactus and Dragon Bones.

Be careful of the fluid from this plant because it can cause skin reactions and cause major eye irritation.

Anonymous said...

I have a Candelabra Cactus. It is about 3 1/2 feet tall. I have had it about 9 years, started it with just one stub. 9 years later it appears to still be doing well but in the last 2 years it has developed some brown, bark like spots on the base. Does anyone know what this could be from? I assumed it is from age and streagth because the top is so full. Please help! CoreeK

Anonymous said...

I have one of these. My family has been growing it for 30 years or more. The biggest it has gotten was 8 feet because it was touching the ceiling in our home. its funny how you can start a new groth from this amazing cactus. take off a branch and rap the end that is broke off in a dry paper towel. let it dry over night and replant it in dry soil. after a couple days water it & it will grow. the cactus that was 8 foot died on us. it got to cold but we managed to take stems off of it and regrow new cactuses.

Michael Popp said...

Thanks for the comment. The one pictured in the blog is a start off a large 6 foot+ (2 m) plant that was over 20 years old.
I have another cactus that has been with me since I was a small child. Their lifespan is suppose to be over 100 years so I need to leave in my will that one will have a good home when I am gone.

Unknown said...

Omg it can cause irritation bc when i first got mine it had some milk running out and i tried it and it Tate's really bad ( bc i heard that u can drink milk from cactus)

Anonymous said...

It's normal, old cacti develop these hard spots like calluses.