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Climbing cactus

Epiphyllum

Climbing cactus
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0 de

Epiphyllum is a genus of epiphytic cacti from Central and South America, grown for its large, often night-blooming flowers. Grow them in bright, filtered light with a well-drained, humus-rich mix, and water when the top of the mix dries.

Family
Cactaceae (Cactus family)
Grows as
Climber, Succulent, Epiphyte
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Water when the top of the mix dries, and keep it barely moist in winter.
Soil
Well-drained, humus-rich epiphytic mix, such as orchid bark with peat or compost.
Temperature
15–27 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic

About

Epiphyllum, ; from Ancient Greek ἐπι- (epi-), meaning "upon", and φύλλον (phúllon), meaning "leaf", is a genus of epiphytic plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), native to Central America and South America. Common names for these species include climbing cacti, orchid cacti and leaf cacti, though the latter also refers to the genus Pereskia.

How to grow it

The plants known as epiphyllum hybrids, epiphyllums or just epis, which are widely grown for their flowers, are artificial hybrids of species within the tribe Hylocereeae, particularly species of Disocactus. In spite of the common name, the involvement of Epiphyllum species as parents of Epiphyllum hybrids is unconfirmed.

Other Epiphyllum plants

Epiphyllum baueri · Epiphyllum cartagense · Epiphyllum grandilobum · Dutchman's pipe cactus · Dutchman's Pipe Cactus · Epiphyllum thomasianum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Epiphyllum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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