Christmas Cactus

Schlumbergera 'Malissa' is a white Christmas cactus with clean, long-lasting flowers from November into January. Flattened green stem segments with toothed edges arch out from the pot, and each tip opens into a trumpet of white petals, some curling back, with white stamens and a bright pink stigma at the centre. It flowers freely, makes a calm seasonal display, and will bloom again each year with a simple autumn routine. See more in our white flowering plants.

Origins

Christmas cacti are jungle cacti from the coastal mountain forests of south eastern Brazil, where they grow on tree trunks and rocks rather than in desert sand. They have no spines and need different care from a desert cactus. Most modern cultivars descend from Schlumbergera truncata, the crab or Thanksgiving cactus with toothed, claw-like segments, and some also have Schlumbergera × buckleyi, the older round-segmented Christmas cactus, in their parentage. In the UK all of them are sold as Christmas cactus. 'Malissa' is a Danish cultivar from the Schlumbergera truncata group. It sits alongside Schlumbergera 'Vida' (orange), Schlumbergera 'Exotic Red Lip' (white edged in red) and Schlumbergera 'Kornelia' (fuchsia pink) in our range, and the spring flowering Easter cactus is a close relative.

Care

Give it bright, indirect light and keep it out of hot midday sun, which scorches the stems. Water when the top few centimetres of compost have dried and never leave it standing in water. Buds form as autumn nights lengthen and cool, so a spot away from lamps that stay on in the evening helps. Once buds appear, leave it where it is, because a move or a sudden change in temperature can make them drop. Keep it above 10C. It is non-toxic to cats and dogs, which makes it one of the easier pet safe houseplants to place.