#epiphytic cactus

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 10 January 2024

The epiphytic cactus Rhipsalis baccifera (mistletoe cactus) is native to South American rainforests. It needs a well-draining compost that is slightly acidic and should be watered thoroughly but allowed to dry out slightly between watering. Overwatering can lead to root rot, so it's essential to make sure the compost is not constantly wet.

Jill Raggett

[poop-me-a-flower]

Rhipsalis flowers! Not 100% on the species here as I bought this unlabeled. Possibly baccifera. This guy is blooming up a storm in its spot in the new house. Happy for him.

[wussupg]

[snekdood]

[crudlynaturephotos]

[ghostlyfoliage]

We're getting funky!

[jimbell]

Lady Of The Night has about 10 flowers!(Epiphyllum oxypetalum), the Dutchman's pipe cactus, princess of the night or queen of the night, is native to Southern Mexico and to extensive areas of South America. A neighbour gave us this plant, that used to belong to her father. That probably makes it over 40 yo. The cuttings from the original are over 3 metres long. Likes a shady spot but will tolerate sun. Flowers at night with a beautiful perfume. Easily propagated from cuttings in any free draining mix. #LadyOfTheNight #EpiphyllumOxypetalum #DutchmansPipeCactus #PrincessOfTheNight #Mexico #CentralAmerica #SouthAmerica #nocturnal #cactus #abcmygareden #epiphyte (at Belmont, New South Wales, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnljAy6Pp19/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jump4joe]

Epiphytic hybrid in bloom #epiphyte #tropical #cactus #enjoyitwhileucan☀️ #gardening #succulents #truskot #worth #worththewait (at Salinas, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CecMV5AvqZy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[friend-crow]

Behold one of my newer favorite plants, the ric rac (or fishbone) cactus!

I'd never seen one of these before I encountered this one in a plant shop last year, and had no idea what to expect. Contrary to what its name would suggest, it doesn't like direct sunlight, and enjoys regular watering (this is perfect for my situation, as it so happens).

When I first got it it only had thick, fully formed leaves, and I had no idea what its growth habit would be. It has since put out a bunch of these thin shoots, which gradually fill in from the top down with the fuller zigzag shape. It seems like these should make it easy to propagate, though I'm holding off for another month or so before I try it.

They are epiphytic, which means that they grow on other plants or trees, like orchids. They can also bloom in the right conditions, but I haven't seen that (yet).

[simplytheevebest]

Farah the Fern AU: It's Official ❤️ Masterlist Included

*off key kazoo*

Here we go! By popular demand I present to you the first chapter of the Farah the Fern AU.

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has commented and reblogged and liked my posts about this silly little idea, I'm glad it's bringing such joy in this trying time.

Shamelessly tagging everyone who's interacted with those posts: @somenamewithepineapple @thomasine00 @ghostsunderstoodmysoul @travelingtardis @thebloodpit @setsuna1415 @ferratic @veritaserum07 @captdorkybadass @eves-da-best @alexusonfire @muscatmusic18 @evebestt @faytalepsy @evermoreparadise @astrid-v @abearofverylittlebrain @radley21 @nerd-law @icecream-junkie @quicktypesomethingclever @fuelingobsessions

If I missed you and you wish to be tagged, let me know. If I tagged you and you don't want to be, also let me know. I will be posting chapters on Ao3 but I will also post them here and update this original post with links to the new ones. Almost all "chapters" will be unconnected unless I specify otherwise.

Enjoy!

Part One (you are here). Part Two. @icecream-junkie's excellent contribution. Part Three. Angsty Part Four. Part Five. @ghostsunderstoodmysoul's excellent Farah x Reader contribution. @belligerent-butterfly's Farah the Fern inspired Farah x Reader. @icecream-junkie's second excellent contribution. @arte-mis-t's Farah the Fern inspired Farah x Reader (chapter 2). @icecream-junkie's NSFW Silrah contribution. @astrid-v's amazing fanart.

Chapter One: A New Trick

The cactus, Saul can only assume, is not proving as effective or satisfactory for Farah to express her displeasure anymore. It’d been a short-lived parlor trick anyhow, since he’s learned to look her way before reaching blindly. She’d taken great enjoyment in that first time, when he’d felt for the delicate fronds of the fern, only to find his fingers instead pierced by the spines of a prickly pear, because he’d made a quip about her current state being much easier to manage than her hair.

All jokes aside, it’s an incredible feat of her restored magic that she’s able to change to whatever plant species she pleases, though she defaults to the fern that saved her life, or the “pleopeltis polypodioides,” as Ben had said, “a fascinating epiphytic fern native to climates of-”

And that’s when Saul had stopped listening. Farah’s a fern: that’s all he needs to know. Except now, she’s not just a fern. She’s whatever she wants to be, for whatever reason she chooses. He learns she’s spending too much time with Flora -dedicated to the task of restoring the headmistress to her corporeal form, bless her- because her plant swaps hold meaning now, a language Saul never bothered learning but now has to, so he knows why Farah had chosen to be a petunia for Luna’s latest visit. (Which according to the archaic volume he’d borrowed from the library, could be construed either as peace or resentment, depending on who the recipient is. Saul has no misgivings about which meaning Farah intended for the Solarian royal).

But Saul doesn’t have the time to cross-reference the subtext of every plant Farah chooses to be, which Farah knows all to well, having no choice but to sit on the edge of her own desk and watch him sort through reams and reams of the paperwork meant to be for her perusal. He’s ashamed to admit he’d had no idea she’d taken on such a taxing load of work on her own, though he’s also not surprised, and irritated mostly with himself for believing her when she’d insisted there was “nothing” for him to do as headmaster outside of training the specialists. Farah is evidently equally as unwilling to let him take on even a fraction of the workload, let alone all of it, in her absence, and she expresses her displeasure the best way she knows how, because Saul doesn’t need to look up any sort of secondary meaning to know she intends the cactus to act as visual proof of her disgruntlement.

But that’s all it is: visual. The plants she chooses to masquerade as are limited to the size of the original pot, so he isn’t contending with a forty pound cactus threatening to skewer his writing-hand for daring to do his job. The prickly pear is barely larger than his hand, an adorable manifestation of her ire like a yappy little dog imagining itself a rottweiler. Which he would never, ever say to her face, because on any other day of the week, she is the rottweiler, which he supposes might make him the yappy little dog. On second thought, maybe he’ll tuck that one away for a time when she’s upset with him. It’ll make her smile, even if he’s still destined for the dog house (ha).

But as a plant stuck in a pot, there’s only so much she can do. She can’t extend the spines of the cactus far enough to poke at him, so he’s in no danger of incurring her wrath any worse. She’ll hold onto guilt, but she won’t hold a grudge.

The ghost of a grin twitches at the corners of Saul’s mouth as he catches the change out of the corner of his eye, the frilly fronds of the fern shrinking into the smooth skin of the cactus, barbs prominent and angry. He mark his signature on an inventory sheet with more of a flourish than is obviously necessary, setting it aside with deliberate nonchalance. The cactus grows as large as Farah dares, barbs incapable of reaching him but not afraid of trying.

“Sorry,” Saul remarks cheerfully, “Don’t speak plant. I couldn’t tell you what you want, but I’ve got to get back to this paperwork.”

This time, the cactus shrinks, pityingly small and unassuming. Saul stacks the inventory sheets off to the side, tucked safely in a manila folder to be squirreled away between the rest of the filing cabinets’ neat rows in Farah’s outer office.

“Don’t pout,” he chides, “It’s your own fault really, you shouldn’t have been doing this all on your own anyway. We’re co-heads of school, I’m not your deputy. You can give me the work and I’ll do it.”

He gets no response, not even visual, so Saul considers the matter settled. He carries on with the paperwork without further interruption for at least another half an hour before he becomes consciously aware of the irritation in his nose, a tickling not placated by rubbing or sniffling that grows worse the longer he sits there. He’ll admit, he’s behind in his taking-over of Farah’s weekly clean of her office, but surely it can’t be that dusty? Not even the volumes on her tallest shelves had been caked with dust as he’d expected, their height a natural deterrent to a proper dusting. No, Farah is nothing if not thorough, in all areas of her life. He glances at her pot, out of habit more than anything, and visible starts, jolting back away from the desk and the insidious infernal plant Farah’s chosen to become.

“Oh that’s very mature,” he gripes, tone a mix of congestion and the roughness of a scratchy throat, allergies ravaging his senses as she knows they always do. Ragweed.

“Very mature,” he repeats, doing as she intended and abandoning the paperwork for when she’s done throwing a tantrum.

“I’ll be back when you can act like an adult,” he threatens. “And I’ll put Riven in charge of you, don’t think I won’t.”

He won’t. He’s bluffing, and they both know it.

Insufferable woman.

[thelostcanyon]

An old and weathered Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), Sabino Canyon, Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona. Note the small Prickly Pear Cactus growing as an epiphyte* in the area where the Saguaro’s arms branch out.

*A plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic

[unboundpower]

Tell me three HCs you have about the Triclopses (is that the plural? idk man). These can be ones you haven't gotten to talk about yet or ones you've mentioned before but have thought more on and have more to add. How do these apply to Amita, specifically?

!!!!!!!

So I've talked about how neat I think it is that the Triclops are canonically (as canon as outside official sources are) descended from alien life. I've struggled to add more to that in a way that doesn't come off as contrived or...overpowered-ish? But hell, Saiyans are the only alien race in canon who has transformations & power-ups & history worth a damn, so why not show love for a different race that's gotten literally nothing? Here's some of what I have so far:

1) The Triclops are descendants of a race - the Selenians - who were humanoids but had many draconic affinities, mainly out of symbolism as they worshipped their own Eternal Dragon. Or rather, the "Shadow" Dragon fragments of it since those dragons saved their civilization from total collapse because of their constant in-fighting & eventual abuse of their dragon balls; which resulted in the "Shadow" Dragons being created in the first place.

I got the label Selenian from this: Selenicereus ("Selenicereus, sometimes known as moonlight cactus, is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic, and terrestrial cacti. A number of species of Selenicereus produce fruit that is eaten. The fruit, known as pitaya or pitahaya in Spanish or as dragon fruit, may be collected from the wild or the plants may be cultivated"). It's a roundabout pun for dragon fruit and them having dragon gods basically. There's also the "selene" aspect of it that applies to them / the Tricolps in the abstract sense that they're otherworldly to Earth yet they're closely associated with it, like the moon's relation to Earth. This is part of the reason why I've added the moon as an aesthetic to Amita's kit.

2) Some remnants of their ancient culture still exist in Dagi Village (my headc Triclops' sole dominant domain since they apparently live very secluded from Earth's general population - also I got Dagi from "dagian") through their mythology, but primarily in how they have a mysterious orb that no one knows the origin of, but it's always been their greatest "sacred treasure". It's regarded as holy and villagers occasionally pray to it - Amita once having done so herself as a child.

3) The Triclops' ancestors, when they touched down on Earth, are who primarily brought the existence of ki and ki control to earthling awareness. Harnessing one's life force was like second nature to them, and through mingling & osmosis, knowledge of ki was slowly spread around the planet. Only those who both believed in it and could actually achieve it kept the art alive, which were the minority, so it's become a "paranormal" belief nowadays and isn't openly practiced. The knowledge has persisted throughout generations for the Triclops though, so children are given far greater lessons than they would find anywhere else on the planet. For this reason, Amita has a very potent degree of ki control that probably even rivals high levels like Goku's, and the strength of her ki is in fact greater than her physical body's strength (in her current canon). This has been a sharp double-edged sword for her in her life.

[katiajewelbox]

Dragons of the Plant World

Happy Lunar New Year of the Wood Dragon! The Lunar New Year is a major cultural event celebrated in Asia and across the world. The year of the wood dragon begins on February 10th 2024 and concludes on January 29th, 2025. The Asian dragon or “Loong” is a noble, benevolent creature unlike the destructive monsters of Western folklore. Let’s meet some plants named after dragons!

A whole genus of monocot trees is named after dragons, namely the genus Dracaena which includes 120 species of trees and succulent shrubs native to Africa, South Asia, Australia, and Central America. The name Dracaena is derived from a Greek word meaning “female dragon”. It is unclear why these trees are named after dragons, but their spiky foliage and scaly trunks may recall the typical traits of western dragons. Additionally, the Socotra Dragon Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) yields a red resin known as “Dragon’s Blood” which was harvested from these trees since ancient times and used in the Mediterranean and the Middle East for dye and medicines. Several Dracaena species including Dracaena marinata are popular houseplants since they require minimal water and can tolerate low light levels in indoor environments.

Dragonfruit is a tropical treat that comes from a cactus. The Dragonfruit cactus is a general name for one of three species in the Selenicereus genus and is commonly known as the Pitahaya or Moonlight Cactus. These night-blooming lanky cacti are epiphytic and lithophytic, meaning they grow on trees and stones instead of rooting directly into the ground. Their hot pink or yellows fruit have dragon-like fleshy scales and an interior that can be either white or red. Although they were originally cultivated in South America, Vietnam is now the main producer of Dragonfruit. The fruit is rich in dietary fibre, vitamin C, betalains, and carotenoids.

Snapdragons (Anthrrhinum genus) have flowers with cute dragon-like snouts that open and close like a mouth when pressed sideways. These perennial flowers add fiery hues like yellow, orange, red, and pink to cottage gardens of Northern Europe and are a favourite of bees. The Snapdragon (A. majus) is a model organism for plant biology research, especially biochemical studies and developmental biology as well as research on plant-pollinator interactions.

I hope the Year of the Wood Dragon brings new growth to you and your plant collection!Features photos from Wikipedia along with my original AI-generated art made with DALL E.

[t4t4t]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhipsalis_baccifera

Rhipsalis baccifera, commonly known as the mistletoe cactus, is an epiphytic cactus which originates from Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Florida. It is also found throughout the tropics of Africa and into Sri Lanka where it is known in Sinhala as nawahandi (නවහන්දි).[2] This is the only cactus species naturally occurring outside the Americas. One hypothesis is that it was introduced to the Old World by migratory birds, long enough ago for the Old World populations to be regarded as distinct subspecies.[3] An alternative hypothesis holds that the species initially crossed the Atlantic Ocean on European ships trading between South America and Africa, after which birds may have spread it more widely.[4]

The species shows considerable polymorphism and can be divided into numerous subspecies. Mesoamerican specimens are usually tetraploid and South American specimens are diploid. The genera currently assigned to the tribe Rhipsalideae (which include Hatiora, Lepismium, and Schlumbergera in addition to Rhipsalis) were subject to considerable confusion and disagreement prior to the clarification by Wilhelm Barthlott and Nigel Taylor in 1995.

[crudlynaturephotos]

[homophyte]

i haven’t talked super much about my job on here but here’s something i did there today!

so here’s what i’m dealing with, two selloum philodendron (as far as i can tell—the sign may say colombia but as far as i know that’s not exactly accurate, it wasn’t made by me and i don’t consider it my business cause i have no way to make new signs) which are growing way big in their pots. this first one was especially a problem because it had aerial roots growing out of the pot all the way to the floor from a 4 foot shelf and down into a drain. these can be epiphytic so that’s normal it’s just not how we want it to grow cause it’s supposed to stay in its pot. hard to see here but there’s a lot of aerial roots all covering the soil and the plant is kind of “sinking” into the pot so time to refresh the soil and do some root pruning especially for those aerial roots. so first step is depotting, grabbing the base of the plant and loosening it from the pot and then it’ll just pop on out like so:

and uh, oh boy that’s no good. this thing was potted at least a year before i got here (which was…. 5 years ago…) so i don’t think anybody checked on it in a while so it’s not really surprising but, it needs the spa day for sure. loosing the roots and replacing the soil should do good though i couldn’t go a size up on pots. i’m hoping this helps with some of the leaves yellowing too, give it less to complain about basically. here’s the end product:

and as a bonus here’s the root ball of the second one i repotted which turned out largely the same (although this one had gravel in the bottom??? but the other one didn’t??? couldn’t tell you why). this one was contained in its pot BUT it was planted the same time as the other and was also sinking so i figured there was probably more going on under the hood especially after seeing the first root ball and…yeah this one’s even worse lol. put them both back in the greenhouse and gave plenty of water so we should be good to go! i’ll get a chance to check on them tomorrow so i may give an update.

bonus bonus: The Damage . yes, under the gloves. the worst was it knocked loose some fucking cactus glochids (the little kinda fluffy spines on some cacti) which must have been stuck inside the seams of the fabric of my gloves from fucking ages ago when i had to move our opuntia microdasys. that shit is like fiberglass. it’s not irritating me anymore which is good but i was NOT excited to experience that again out of the blue.

i have some other pictures just from Around at work so i’ll probably wind up sharing some another time!