Please change your reference to S truncata from "Christmas" cactus to "Thanksgiving" cactus. Makes the site look very unprofessional.

to garden.org

Common plant names can be very confusing since many plants from entirely different species have the same common name but I fail to see how a database that shows one of the common names for a plant, makes the site look unprofessional.

Being new to the site, you are likely unaware of how our database works. The common name that shows up for a plant is the most popular name determined by members; the name given the most thumbs up by members will always be at the top. Christmas Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus, Holiday Cactus, Crab Cactus and Flor-de-Maio[i] are all common names for the plant Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) and 11 members have given the name "Christmas Cactus a thumbs up, 10 members have selected Thanksgiving Cactus and 1 has selected Crab Cactus. "Thanksgiving Cactus" may be your preference, which is fine; my preference happens to be "Holiday Cactus" due to the fact that it blooms anytime between November and January but most seem to call it by the common name of "Christmas Cactus", possibly because garden centers and nurseries flood the market with them around Christmas time.

Christmas Cactus, Holiday Cactus and Zygocactus are all common names for Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) and our database entry for that plant shows the top common name as Christmas Cactus because it's gotten 7 thumbs up, whereas the other two names only have 1 each.

Holiday Cactus, Easter Cactus and Whitsun Cactusare all common names for both Easter Cactus (Hatiora gaertneri) and Easter Cactus (Hatiora rosea) and top names in our database are Easter Cactus, due to member giving that name thumbs up.

The name with the most thumbs up by members is the one that will always appear first but if you are searching our database and type in a common name, every plant with that particular common name will appear, no matter the genera.

Again, welcome to the site! I hope you will find time to browse the forums that you find of interest, join in the chat and share photos of your favorite plants! Our database holds a wealth of information and members are free to add data, photos and comments, so please don't hesitate to join in and share your knowledge there as well! When we submit data, it goes into a queue for approval but is usually attended to within 24 hours or less. We have a great panel of very knowledgeable database administrators who volunteer their time and work tirelessly to keep the database as accurate and up to date as possible.

Hello from the Old Holiday Cactus Lady (still prefer to call them that) I am back from the almost dead. Still kicking at 93 and I prefer to say Holding instead of kicking. If I life a leg to kick someone I may just fall on my old butt,

I hope this post finds you well and healthy. So many sick people now it is scary. I lost so many friends the past two years. I was not up to par for weeks but I am feeling better every day now and hoping to get back into gardening if only on a small scale. I am going to need some slips or leaves or cuttings. Whatever you all have to share. My greenhouse is almost bare and it is sad to see it that way but until just a few days ago I was just not able to function;

Sending my love to all and hopefully someone will have the time to send me a post. I think of the old cowboy song I think Roy Rogers used to sing. IM BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN Hugs to all. JB

It's good to hear from you, Jacquie. Welcome back.

Good to hear from you, Jacquie! : )

Hi & welcome, Rdcalk. I'm glad you discovered the plant database on this site. It's amazing. You can use it to make personal lists of your plants, and/or plants you would like to have, with notes of whatever other info you would like to preserve.

Nicknames are so often shared by plants. Think of how many are called daisy, or rose, or lily. And conversely, many plants have a multitude of nicknames.

These names are fun and much easier to use in casual conversation, but when specificity is needed, each plant has only 1 (accepted) botanical name. Using that to establish a specific ID can help avoid confusion, which you probably already know because you did that by saying S. truncata.

S. truncata plants are sold by the millions every year with tags that say Christmas cactus, and referred to that way by more people than any other nickname, so it is a very "valid" nickname.

I am one of those who are glad that plants and gardening have no rules, so one can do it in any way they decide, and call their plants anything they want. Several of mine are often referred to as "spike".