Xerophyte

Description

Rhipsalis bacciferaSN|6426]]SN|6426]] (also known as Mistletoe cactus or Spaghetti cactus) is a graceful epiphyte succulent with long thread-like stems and numerous creamy-white flowers followed by mistletoe-like fruits. It forms large hanging clusters, 1 to 4 metres long (occasionally up to 9 meters). Like most cacti it has succulent stems, however in R. baccifera these are weak, slender, narrow and pendent. It shows considerable polymorphism as a result of the existence of lots of geographically isolated populations and can be divided into numerous subspecies

Flowers

Borne laterally in winter or spring, solitary, small (5-10 mm in diameter), greenish in bud, sometimes subtended by a single bristle; petals 2 mm. long, cream-coloured; stamens borne on disk; ovary exserted.

Stem

Articulated, of indeterminate growth, very much branched dichotomously, or spirally, growing from tips of other branches, generally in pairs but sometimes in whorls of 6 or 8. The stems are weak and pendent 1-4 (or more) metres long; branches when young cylindrical, slender, not dimorphic, terete, sometimes producing aerial roots, 3-6 mm in diameter, light green, joints 10 to 20 cm. long, rarely up to 50 cm.

Fruits

Naked, spheric, translucent, mistletoe-like, white or flesh-coloured (sometimes red), maturing a few days after flowering, globose, 5-8 mm. in diameter. The fruits are also edible, with a soft sweet taste.

Areoles

Few dispersed, composite, with only 1-2 (or more) white tiny bristles to 1 m long. These bristly spines tend to disappear as the plant gets older.