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Does anyone know what this could be?

16 years ago

My husband knows how much I like houseplants so on Halloween, my birthday, he brought this little friend home. Does anyone know what it is so that I can care for it? It looks like some kind of cactus but the things coming out of the top of it are soft. I would appreciate any ideas.

{{gwi:112905}}

Thanks,

doggies7

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Comments (11)

mr_subjunctive
16 years ago
Somebody on the Cactus and Succulent forum posted something that looked a lot like this a while back. I'm not sure that what you've got is the same thing, but theirs was IDed as a Euphorbia of some sort. If you don't get an ID pretty immediately here, I'd post the picture over there.
User
16 years ago
I just IDed it wherever else it was (C&S ?). I think it's Euph. lactea as I said elsewhere.
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m_taggart
16 years ago
Hmm, I dunno about Euphorbia lactea. This looks more like a pad type cactus. I think the euphorbia branches out more from a single stem while this plant produces multiple spouts from a single segment. I don't know my succulents or cacti and you could be 100% right pirate girl, but it's looks different than lactea.
doggies7
Original Author
16 years ago
m_taggart,

I have to agree with you. I looked up some pics of the Euphorbia lactea and my husband said the parent plant looked nothing like the pics. He said it was about 5 feet high and can have yellow flowers. It had some pricklys on it but not a lot of them. The plant is realy thin - the parent plant was a little thicker but still pretty thin. Maybe this will help.

Thanks a bunch.
Mentha
16 years ago
Does it bleed white? If so it is an euphorbia. If not check out opuntias, maybe, but doubtful. I agree it's an euphorbia. Not all euphorbs branch from single stem, so that is no indicator, bleeding white would be though. Be careful pricking it though, because if it is an euphorb, than the sap is caustic and can cause skin rashes in some people.
mr_subjunctive
16 years ago
This is the thread I was thinking of originally, though I misremembered it as a please-ID-this post and not as a how-do-I-care-for-this post.
doggies7
Original Author
16 years ago
mentha,
I will check to see if it bleeds white. Will it hurt the plant to just prick it anywhere or should I prick it in a certain spot?

mr_subjunctive,
That is a neat looking plant, but not the one I have.

I think I may have to get a pic of the parent plant. It looks a little different than this cutting. It has a rounded, green "truck" that runs almost three quarters up the plant. My husband describes it as a "cactus tree or bush". It was at least 4 feet high.

Thanks everyone for all your ideas. I think I got a difficult one on my hands :).

doggies7
shapiro
16 years ago
Could it be a type of Christmas cactus?
webkat5
16 years ago
Is there any way to provide a pic of the parent plant??
toadlilly
16 years ago
I'll tell you what you have, you have a sweet hubby! CJ
doggies7
Original Author
16 years ago
Hey everyone!

Thanks for all of your time and effort into finding a name for my little friend. I appreciate all that everyone has done.

toadlilly - you are correct! I have a very sweet hubby who also enjoys my love of plants. I don't know how I got so lucky. You should see his office at work. I keep dropping off cuttings and other cool plants. Everyone at work tells him he has a jungle in his office :). And he never complains!

I think I have discovered the name of my little friend. It is a Opuntia brasiliensis cactus. Someone in the cactus forum was able to pin it down. Now he has a name.

Again, thanks for everything and I appreciate all everyone has done.

doggies7

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