Details about  Live "Ric Rac" "Fishbone" EPIPHYLLUM Orchid Cactus Maroon Flower 1 Yr LG Plant

Live "Ric Rac" "Fishbone" Selenicereus ANTHONYANUS EPIPHYLLUM Orchid Cactus Maroon Flower 1 Yr LG Plant

This auction is for (1) "Ric Rac" "Fishbone" EPIPHYLLUM Orchid Cactus Maroon Flower 1 Yr LG Starter Plant.  You will receive a similar plant as shown in the picture, from our mother plant.  Growing instruction will be included.

Selenicereus anthonyanus is a cactus species native to southern Mexico.  It is grown as an ornamental because of its beautiful nocturnal flowers and unusual stems.

Common names:  Fish Bone Cactus, Rick Rack Cactus, Zig-zag cactus, St. Anthony's Rik-Rak

This orchid cactus relative has serrated leaves that resemble fish bones.  It can be trained to climb a trellis, but looks best in a hanging basket from where the lightning-shaped leaves will dangle two to four feet over the edge. The Ric-Rac cactus is one of the easiest plants to grow in hanging baskets. Like many shade loving cactus, the ric-rac prefers smaller baskets with a very porous soil. As the plant grows and gets rootbound the plant can be repotted to a bigger basket. They will grow better in bright shade and can even handle a little bit of direct sun as long as it is not too hot. In nature ric-racs grow as Epiphytes (like orchids) forming dense clusters cascading down from the branches of trees. Like many orchids they can handle quite a bit of water, as long as the drainage is very good.  It is nightblooming and the flowers last only a single night in spring. It is common that specimens rare or never flower, but when they do so, they are usually rootbound in poor soil, then can produce many white & pink & maroon slender-petaled starburst blossoms, which begin to open right at dusk, releasing a pleasing fragrance intended to attract nocturnal pollinators.   

The species name is after St. Anthony. There is a traditional prayer to Anthony that pleads, "From thunder, lightning & storms, St. Anthony deliver us," for as it turns out, Anthony is called to whenever a Catholic is at risk of death in a blizzard, & might even be regarded as a patron saint of weather forcasting. Seeking further a story that would explain Anthony's power over fierce weather, it turns out that among his many supernatural visions, induced by fasting & abuse of his own body, he hallucinated himself set-upon by demons in the form of tornados & hailstones & such like, with Satan having the form of a thunderbolt, as is stated in the gospel of Luke [10:18]. So as it turns out, the ric-rac cactus is manifestation of the devil! .