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The Christmas Cactus is a plant with a long life, even if sometimes neglected. They brighten the winter with their cheerful blossoms and give plant lovers something to mull over: Is it a Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter Cactus?

This family of cacti doesn’t come from the hot desert. They come from the cool mountain rainforests in Brazil. They don’t grow in soil but in pockets of humus-rich debris in the crotches of trees and cracks of rocks. They usually have a spreading, drooping habit.

Christmas cacti have been in cultivation a long time. The plants being sold today are clones of several crosses of two species, Schlumbergera bridgesii, or Schlumbergera russelliana, and Schlumbergera truncate that were developed in the 1800s. Typically they are given the names Thanksgiving Cactus or Christmas Cactus by the time of year they bloom. There are some slight differences in leaf shape in the different clones.

To add to the confusion, Christmas Cacti bloom can be manipulated fairly easily by growers, and the different varieties may be in bloom at the same time or even delayed until later in the spring, when they can be sold in place of the true Easter Cacti. Some varieties also bloom sporadically all winter.

The Easter Cactus belongs to another species entirely, Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri. It comes from the same general area as the other holiday cacti and requires just about the same care. It usually blooms in April.