Holiday Cactus
(click on photo to enlarge)
One of my friends called me last week to tell me that her "Thanksgiving Cactus" was in bloom, and asked if I would photograph it. I really like the pink flowers on this one.
The common holiday cacti (Thanksgiving Cactus, Christmas Cactus, Easter Cactus) are composed of several closely related species in the genus Schlumbergera and the species Hatiora gaertneri, (often called "Zygocactus" in older works). They are originally forest cacti, growing as epiphytes at elevations between 1000 and 1700 meters above sea level (3280 to 5575 feet above sea level) in the Organ Mountains north of Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil, South America. They are called "Flor de maio" (May Flower) in Brazil. Many modern holiday cactus cultivars are hybrids between Schlumbergera truncata and Schlumbergera russelliana, first bred about 150 years ago in England. (Source: Wikipedia)
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