Plant Story--More on Prickly Pear Cacti, Flowers and Fruits

Prickly pear cacti, genus Opuntia, are easily-recognized members of the cactus family (Cactaceae) with a very wide native range across the Americas. There are more than 150 species, native from southern Canada to Argentina and Chile. They are also called nopales (singular nopal).

The Cactus Family, Cactaceae

Is this plant cute?

"Of course it is," my prickly pear cactus replied. "We cacti grow well in pots, have beautiful flowers, and survive if the dumb human forgets to provide water for weeks. We're awesome!"

Cactus in pot, Majorca, Spain.

"Ah," I replied cautiously, "then how come some people hate you, clearing you out of their pastures?"

Dye Story--Cochineal Reds

The big prickly pear cactus had white deposits. So unsightly! And yet, the source of fortunes!

Humans love red, but red dyes are few in the natural world. Europe from prehistoric times raised madder (Isatis tinctoria) which makes a strong brick red. But though they loved madder, Europeans liked colors that were almost purple even better, and those were harder to produce. The Phoenecians, Greeks and Romans made them from small molluscs (murex, link  link) gathered in the Mediterranean. That was the source of the rare royal purple of Roman togas, a red-purple. The snails were over-harvested and when Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, the technology was lost until the 19th century.

Growing a Happy Christmas Cactus -- Lessons from Junior

Christmas cactus flower

I've been growing a plant of Schlumbergera xbuckleyi "Rollinsonii", a Christmas cactus, since 1961. I named it "Junior." Last week I talked of Junior's history (link). Here I am going to describe what I learned from Junior about growing Christmas cacti and getting them to flower.

Christmas cacti like Junior are quite tolerant of not being watered but will rot easily if too moist. They never have much of a root system. In nature they perch on a tree as an epiphyte. You don’t need well-developed roots up on a tree branch. 

They root easily if you bury a joint between the segments in soil. That too probably harks back to life in the trees. If a piece that broke off can root, it helps maintain the plant in a dangerous world. Many other cacti easily root at the joints as well.

Plant Story — a Christmas Cactus Named Junior

Flower of Christmas cactus "Junior"

I have grown the same Christmas cactus for over 50 years. Here's how it happened:

As we packed to move to Ohio from upstate New York in 1961, my mother had her Christmas cactus plant sitting on the windowsill, to be left behind. I protested. I couldn’t remember when we hadn’t had a Christmas cactus in the house. Mom shrugged and gave it to me. 

In 1965 I took a single rooted branch from that plant to college with me in a 2" pot.  The plant was small, and I, an inveterate namer of things, called it “Junior”. 

The only place in an old-time college dorm room for a house plant was on the window sill. Which was fine--until the wind blew the curtains! Junior was thrown onto the floor. The first time the pot broke I replaced it with another like it. But after the loss of several pots, my replacements got flimsier and flimsier. When I moved out of Markley Hall at the end of my Sophomore year, Junior was growing in a waxed paper cup from the dorm’s snack bar. When one cup started to come apart, I had another coke and replaced it.

Christmas cactus "Junior' in 1974