Christmas cactus leaf identification: Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter cactus

Flowers and bloom season

The flower confirms what the segments suggest.

Christmas cactus. NC State describes delicate tubular flowers, magenta-red to pink and about 3 inches long, that "droop down" from the segment ends. The tube is long and only weakly slanted at the mouth, and the petal-like tepals spread or curl back. The hybrid blooms from December to February.

Thanksgiving cactus. Its flowers are also long tubes but, NC State says, they are erect and do not hang down like those of the Christmas cactus. The mouth is strongly slanted (one side longer than the other), the anthers are yellow, and the colors run from red, pink, purple and orange to creamy white. Flowering usually starts in late November and lasts about five weeks, with a possible second flush as days lengthen in February.

Easter cactus. The flowers are a different shape: wide, short-tubed stars 1.5 to 3 inches across in red, pink or white, opening between late March and May. The buds form only as days lengthen in late winter.

Bloom time is a weaker clue than the segments, because indoor light and temperature shift it. A toothed plant that flowers at Christmas is still a Thanksgiving cactus.

Why the names get mixed up

The names overlap on labels, in shops and in the sources themselves. The Royal Horticultural Society writes that "there are two species of Christmas cactus", Schlumbergera truncata and Schlumbergera × buckleyi, and treats both under the one common name. NC State keeps the names apart: Christmas cactus for S. × buckleyi, an artificial hybrid of S. russelliana and S. truncata raised by William Buckley at an English nursery in the 1840s, and Thanksgiving, crab or false Christmas cactus for S. truncata. It adds that there are over 200 cultivars.

The ASPCA's entry adds another layer: it files Christmas cactus under the older name Schlumbergera bridgesii and gives "Easter cactus" as an additional common name. The Easter cactus itself is a separate genus. World Flora Online accepts Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, the name NC State uses, while many shops and databases still list it as Hatiora gaertneri or Schlumbergera gaertneri.

The practical answer: identify the plant by its segment edges and flowers, and treat the label as a hint.

For other flat-stemmed and spiny cacti, see the cactus identification guide, and for fleshy-leaved plants such as jade, the succulent identification guide.

Pets, origin and a short care note

Pets. The ASPCA lists Christmas cactus as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses. That is the ASPCA's classification, not a guarantee that a pet will have no reaction after chewing a plant; if your pet is unwell, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 (the ASPCA says a consultation fee may apply). For a person, Poison Control is at 1-800-222-1222 in the US, or NHS 111 in the UK.

Origin. These are not desert cacti. NC State says Thanksgiving cactus grows on trees and rocks in the coastal mountain rainforests of southeastern Brazil, and Easter cactus comes from the coastal mountains of southern Brazil. That rainforest origin explains their flat, spineless stems and their dislike of strong sun.

Care, briefly, from the RHS: bright, indirect light (an east-facing windowsill is often ideal), about 18 to 20 °C (65 to 69 °F) in growth and in flower, and two cooler, drier rest periods at 12 to 15 °C (55 to 59 °F): one from mid-September until buds show, one after flowering. NC State adds that the plants need at least 13 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night in autumn to set buds, and that sudden temperature changes and drafts make buds drop. Plant Identifier's Care Guide can give general notes once the plant is named, but the long-night rule is the one that decides whether it flowers.