My new favorite plant – from Mom

This is my new favorite plant, a Rhipsalis creuscula or coral cactus.

I got it a month ago from my brother, who sent me some cuttings from his plant by mail. His plant came from cuttings my mother gave him almost thirty years ago from her plant. She died in 1994.

So this is my mother’s plant! She’s the one who turned me on to houseplants in the first place, and now I have a houseplant from her again. It’s sitting on the window ledge in this room — celebrating Mother’s Day.

Here’s the plant’s natural history and tips for its care. This cactus normally grows as an epiphyte in South American forests.

The cuttings from my brother arrived a bit travel-weary, but he assures me it’s a “vigorous” plant that should become beautiful soon. To my eyes, it’s already beautiful.