Euphorbia Lactea Coral Cactus

Recently plant sellers have begun to graft coral cactus fans in a variety of colors onto the stems of other succulents or cacti.

Euphorbia lactea coral cactus. Eurphorbia lactea grafted on top of a euphorbia neriifolia root stock. Its actually a african succulent from the euphorbia genus and euphorbiaceae family that has been mutated to create one plant type from two. This is a very unusual plant in the way that it often produces an unusual looking fan like crest. Planting and propagating coral cactus grafting a coral cactus.

To graft your own coral cactus youll need a euphorbia neriifolia plant and a euphorbia lactea. This form is often grown grafted onto the base of euphorbia neriifolia. The size of a shrub or a small tree. Use a slender implement to very carefully pry the gravel mat away from the edge of the pot and away from the plant stem without damaging the plant or roots.

Heres how to care for this unusual beauty. The resulting plants are called variegated coral cactus euphorbia lactea f. Cristata a crested form of mottled spurge euphorbia lactea offers convoluted fan shaped green growth marked with silver. Euphorbia lactea is also known as cristata.

It is a slow growing succulent composed of fan shaped branches arranged in an alternating undulating pattern. The most common host is euphorbia neriifolia. A coral cactus should be repotted once you bring it home. Euphorbia lactea cristata is a popular crested form of euphorbia lactea.

The combination of these two plants is named coral cactus and cleverly referred to as frankenstein cactus. Use cactus potting soil which prevents roots and stems from soaking in water and rotting. The coral cactus euphorbia lactea f. Because some varieties dont grow roots well the top of euphorbia lactea cristata is often grafted onto the base of another plant.

Despite its common name coral cactus it is not actually a cactus at all. If youre looking to add an easy to care for plant to your indoor or outdoor garden you might want to consider coral cactus or euphorbia lactea. Eurphorbia lactea is typically grafted on top of a euphorbia neriifolia or a cactus root stock. The stems are green and attractively marked with whitish or lime green irregular markings.

Types of euphorbia lactea. A species of succulent it can grow to more than 16 feet tall when planted in the ground outdoors and 2 feet when planted in a container. It pulls together in a way like corals would. In my opinion this cactus is one of the stranger ones out there.

It is a succulent properly named euphorbia lactea cristata. Its not a genuine cactus. Similar in appearance to ocean coral the coral cactus euphorbia lactea cristata is actually two plants in one.