Origin Can’t you just imagine this plant dangling from a tree in Mexico? Photo: Į. A lot of people mistake the broad, flat stems for leaves, but the only leaves this plant ever produces are the first two leaves (cotyledons) of its seedlings and they’re long gone by the time you pick up a plant at the nursery. The stems are green (although older stems can become woody and brown at the base) and carry out the plant’s photosynthesis, since, like most cactus, it has no leaves. Only a germination does the zigzag cactus have leaves: its cotyledons. The lobes are also the origin of the plant’s name: anguliger means “angle bearing”.
It’s obvious where it gets its common name! Its stems are very curious: flattened, yet succulent, they are deeply and alternately toothed, giving the stem a zigzag appearance. Very odd stems indeed! Some people even mistake this cactus for a fern! Photo: Still, this is small for an “orchid cactus” (the common name used for cactus of the genus Epiphyllum and their relatives) many orchid cactus have individual branches that measure over 6 feet (2 m) long! The smaller size of the zigzag cactus makes is a more convenient houseplant than some of its rangy cousins. However, it will turn out to be more medium-sized than mini, with the whole plant eventually reaching about 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) in diameter. You may also see it labeled “mini fishbone cactus”.
A pot of young cuttings like this may look mini, but your zigzag cactus will eventually become quite sizeable. Photo: .ukĬertainly one of the strangest looking cactus, the zigzag cactus or fishbone cactus, Epiphyllum anguliger, now more correctly Disocactus anguliger, has been around for years, but suddenly seems to be catching on in a big way.
A young zigzag cactus, whose stems are just starting to arch down.
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