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Where does Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) come from?
The Christmas cactus comes from the coastal mountains of southeast Brazil. Its wild ancestors are no desert plants: they grow on mossy branches and rocks in cool, misty forests, and there they flower in May, in the southern autumn.
Cacti of the misty forests
Schlumbergera is a small genus of six to nine species found only in the coastal mountains of the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, from 700 to 2,780 metres up. Warm, moist Atlantic air rises over the mountains and condenses, so the forests are cool, shady and humid. The plants grow on moss-covered branches or in rock crevices, and their tubular, nectar-rich flowers are built for hummingbirds.
From Brazil to European windowsills
Schlumbergera truncata was grown in Europe by 1818, and S. russelliana, discovered in Brazil in 1837, followed in 1839. In England, W. Buckley crossed the two, and the hybrid was first recorded in 1852. By the 1860s many varieties were for sale, popular in heated greenhouses and homes for their autumn and winter flowers. The genus name, given by Charles Lemaire in 1858, honours Frédéric Schlumberger, who kept a cactus collection at his chateau near Rouen.
Why people say Mexico
A cactus suggests deserts, and deserts suggest Mexico. But Schlumbergera belong to a group of cacti that grow on trees or rocks and look and live quite differently from their desert cousins: they are leafless, with flat green stem segments, and too much sun harms them. Their names follow the calendar. Long nights trigger the buds, so in the north they bloom around Thanksgiving and Christmas, while in Brazil they are flor de maio, 'May flower'.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org ↗ · sciencemuseerne.dk ↗ · extension.arizona.edu ↗
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