30 November 2007
New acquisition – Schlumbergera “Enigma”
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti .
This week I’ve taken delivery of a plant I bought “by accident” on eBay. It’s amazing how easy it is to buy things by accident these days…
It wasn’t cheap, but as it’s being sold in aid of the Epiphytic Plant Research and Information Centre I don’t begrudge them a penny – incidentally, their service is excellent; the plant was packed very professionally indeed and arrived more quickly than I was expecting.
The plant is a rooted cutting of Schlumbergera ‘Enigma’, a bizarre hybrid or sport of the ever-popular Christmas cactus. The odd thing about ‘Enigma’ is that the flowers have no petals at all, and are made up entirely of filaments.
The stems are unusual for a Schlumbergera as well; they are narrower and thicker, more like a Rhipsalis of some sort.
Needless to say, as mine is a recently-rooted cutting of only a few segments, it’s going to be at least next year before it flowers, but it was too intriguing not to have a go at it!
Image sourced from EPRIC eBay auction. Buy their plants
3 Comments so far...
Nicola Says:
4 December 2007 at 11:28 am.
What a beautiful flower. I am especially pleased with the lovely ‘white’ version of the Christmas cactus you gave me – although its more of a peachy colour – happy to send you the photo to put up if you like. My pink Christmas Cactus is busily flowering – its a truly gaudy pink but its very special to me – it was my grandmother’s and its over 10 years old. What’s the oldest plant you own? How long can cacti live for? Does it vary much?
Stuart Says:
4 December 2007 at 11:49 am.
Yep, please – seeing as it’s propagated from one of my plants it’ll just about squeeze into my “growing diary” 
The oldest plant I’ve got is a Cylindropuntia x viridiflora (a natural hybrid of Cylindropuntia imbricata). It’s 20 years old this year and lives outdoors all year round.
Most cacti will live a good long while, whether in cultivation or the wild. The big saguaros (the classic cowboy-film cactus) can be hundreds of years old. Some run out of energy much sooner – sometimes old plants need regenerating from cuttings when they’re much younger but I couldn’t give you precise numbers.
I’d expect a reasonable proportion of my plants to outlive me, anyway.
Lorna Says:
28 February 2010 at 11:55 am.
I have an Easter cactus, with the vivid crimson flowers, and it is almost 25 years old, I have just taken a cutting from it in 2009, and they will both outlive me!!