Schlumbergera microsphaerica is found in Serra do Caparaó, Minas Gerais and from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It usually grows on rocks or on trees at rocky areas in a limited area of the coastal mountains at elevations from 2000 to 2700 meters above sea level.
Schlumbergera microsphaerica also called as Cereus microsphaerica, Epiphyllanthus microsphaericus, Cereus obtusangulus, Epiphyllanthus obtusangulus, Zygocactus obtusangulus, Schlumbergera obtusangula, is a species of the genus Schlumbergera. This species was described by Otto Hövel in 1970.
IDENTIFY SCHLUMBERGERA MICROSPHAERICA CACTI
Schlumbergera microsphaerica is found in Serra do Caparaó, Minas Gerais and from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It usually grows on rocks or on trees at rocky areas in a limited area of the coastal mountains at elevations from 2000 to 2700 meters above sea level.
It is a lithophyte or epiphyte that has branchlets which are narrow, more or less cylinder-shaped 0.6-1.6 inches long by 0.1-0.2 inches in diameter. The red to white flowers usually hang down and are more or less regular occurs in the spring - March to April.
The plants are employed with good effect for covering walls, which are first covered with peaty soil by means of wire netting, and then cuttings are stuck in at intervals of about 1 ft. The effect of a wall of the drooping branches of these plants is attractive even when without their beautiful flowers; but when seen in winter, clothed with hundreds of sparkling blossoms, they present a most beautiful picture.
SCHLUMBERGERA MICROSPHAERICA CACTI CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light and exposure:
In summer, any position where Schlumbergera microsphaerica can be kept a little close and moist, and be shaded from bright sunshine, will suit them. Remembering that their habit, when wild, is to grow upon the trunks of trees, where they would be afforded considerable shade by the overhanging branches, we cannot be wrong in shading them from direct sunshine during summer. All through the summer months, the plants should be syringed both morning and evening; but by the end of August they will have completed their growth, and should, therefore, be gradually exposed to sunshine and air.
Temperature:
These cactus need the temperate temperature: in summer 15°C, rising to 24°C with sun heat, night 15°C to 18°C, in winter 10°C to 13°C. The plants are safest when kept dry during the cold, dull weather between September and April.
Soil:
The soil most suitable for these plants is a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, unless a light and fibrous loam be obtainable, which is, perhaps, the best of all soils for these plants, requiring only the addition of a little rotted manure or leaf-mould, silver sand, and some small brick rubble. Leaf mould is sometimes used, but unless really good it is best left out of the soil.
Potting:
The size of pots most suitable is what would be considered small in comparison with other plants. If small pots are used, the head of the plant is apt to overbalance the whole. The pots should be well drained-about one-fifth of their depth filled with drainage. When filling in the soil, press it down firmly, spreading the roots well amongst it, and keeping the base of the plant only an inch or so below the surface.
When grown as standards, the plants should be tied to strong wire supports, those with three short, prong-like legs being most desirable, as, owing to the weight of the head of the plant, a single stake is not sufficient to hold the whole firmly.
Repot:
On the arrival of the potting season (April and May), the plants should be examined at the root, and if the roots are found to be in a healthy condition, and the soil sweet, they should be replaced in the same pots to continue in them another year. If the roots are decayed, or the soil has become sour, it should be shaken away from the roots, which must be examined, cutting away all decayed portions, and shortening the longest roots to within a few inches of the base of the plant.
After potting, no water should be given for a few weeks. In fact, if the atmosphere in which the plants are placed be kept a little moist, it will not be necessary to water them till signs of fresh growth are perceived.
Watering:
During their season of growth, the plants require a good supply of moisture, both at the root and overhead; and afterwards a somewhat lengthened period of rest, that is, almost total dryness, accompanied by all the sunlight possible, and generally a somewhat high temperature. The growing season for these plants which require to be kept dry when at rest is from the end of April to the middle of August, and during this time they should be kept moderately moist, but not constantly saturated, which, however, is not likely to occur if the water is not carelessly supplied, and the drainage and soil are perfect.
Propagation:
Schlumbergera microsphaerica may be multiplied from cuttings of the stems, from seeds, and also by means of grafting. From seeds the plants are generally freer in growth than when cuttings are used, although the seedlings are longer in growing into flowering specimens than large cuttings would be.
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