Plants That Look Like Pencil Cactus

The blooms can be orange pink red or white depending on the plant.

Plants that look like pencil cactus. The spruce letícia almeida. In pots an organic cactus succulent mix is the best thing to use. Euphorbia baioensis this one had me fooled for a few years too. The branches are the diameter of a pencil which give rise to the name.

One of the common names for this euphorbia is milkbush a well. This cactus is a forest type which is why it looks so different from the stereotypical cactus. Euphorbia gregaria a south african species at the huntington gardens not really the classic pencil cactus these dead looking madagascan plants are euphorbia platyclada more like flattened sticks than pencils in southern california. Like all succulents the pencil cactus needs a soil with excellent drainage.

Euphorbia grandicornis euphorbia virosa euphorbia horrida. The christmas cactus is named so because it blooms near the christmas season when the days are much shorter. Now for the bad news. I ve never seen it flower.

First off my boyfriend is the main caretaker because i have an abysmal history with succulents and the like the plant is in east facing window though house close by limits the potential light hours but gets several hours of direct sun regardless. Pencil cactus is grown as a large houseplant that reaches ceiling height when given a couple years in a good size container. I always add worm castings compost to everything i plant. I have a large pencil cactus affectionately named ricky purchased in jan of this year.

There are thousands of euphorbias and like all of them the pencil cactus has milky white latex sap that is released when the plant is injured. Below are some examples of these cactus like plants. The stems are slender and slightly toothed with no obvious foliage. Euphorbia tirucalli or pencil cactus is a tropical plant that may become 30 feet tall in habitat.

Euphorbia enopla euphorbia ferox euphorbia mammillaris. With proper care this cactus can also bloom in the fall and spring. I got mine in bulk from a local landscape supply company. Plants usually have a narrowly upright form with branch tips that begin to droop as the plants gain size.

The ocotillo plant fouquieria splendens is desert shrub that produces a spectacle of bright pink flowers on whip like canes. If it s in the ground that might mean adding some loam to your soil. Native to arid south africa and india pencil cactus is actually a euphorbia thus making it a succulent and not a true cactus despite the name. Euphorbia caudicifolia and euphorbia cactus.