I was in Wal-Mart today and they had new succulents out. One naturally came home with me. When I checked the database I can't find it. I think you see the label, but in case it isn't legible this is called a Curiosity Plant 'Mini'
Cereus peruvianus monstrose is popular as a landscaping plant with bluish - gray stems that has sculpturally fascinating knobby, rippled ribs and protuberances. Can grow to 15' in height with stems to 6" in diameter. Native to South America. Protect from frost. Provide bright light/sun; hardy to 32F; to 6' + tall. Water thoroughly when soil is dry.
The green ends of the label contain 'CactusCollection.com" on one end and "Altman Plants Vista, CA 92084" on the other end.

The plant is a forest green to my eye. No blue-gray aspect to it. It also has stickers (they may grow to be thorns, but right now they are small and flexible though they can stick you).

Sorry about the quality of the photo. I can't seem to make the flash work normally. I'll have to wait for sunlight to get a better photo if this isn't good enough.

I can't help with an ID Donald but C. peruvianus is a synonym for C. repandus. You can read more about it here. http://www.public.asu.edu/~cam...

There are a number of discussions about a "Monstrose Mini" (or some variation of that) I've found while searching. Might be a good starting point. It looks like our Cereus database is in need of some review.

Wow! The growth habit goes from 6' + on the label to "Slowly upright and branched to 20 feet (specific variants can grow to 50 feet)" on that webpage!

It lists as a common name "night blooming cereus". I've known about 4 different people totally unconnected from each over a span of many years that grew a plant they called "night blooming cereus" and this is definitely not the same as those plants. LOL.

What a mess. I'd buy the common name hedge cactus because it's pretty descriptive of what this looks like. I've never heard of 'hedge cactus' though. Maybe some of the folks on the cactus and succulents can help? @adamgreen @tarev @esperanza Someone just had a plant that was grafted onto a different rootstock that reminded me of this one (in my mind, at least). I can't remember where that was posted. It may not be remotely similar when I see the photo again.

Hi Donald,

I don't grow that cacti, but I found this info about Cereus peruvianus http://www.cactiguide.com/cact...

If you scroll down a bit more on that page, it has more photos of Cereus peruvianus f. monstrose.

I have Peruvian Apple (Cereus repandus) but your plant is more than likely Monstrose Peruvian Apple (Cereus repandus 'Monstrosus') I don't know why someone would give it the cultivar name of 'Mini' because they grow very tall!

Lin,

Perhaps it is 'mini' because the description says it grows to 6'+ rather than 20'!

LOL, I didn't even know there was a mini version of a Cereus but yeah I guess that would be considered a miniature since some do grow really tall. My C. repandus only grows (rather grew since we chopped it into 3 pieces) to @ 7 feet. It was in the ground when we bought this house a little over three years ago so I'm not sure how long it had been planted here. The former owner of the house was an elderly lady in her 80's who'd been here since 1983; neighbors told me the cactus had been here as long as they could remember so maybe mine is considered a mini too.

umm, as I said, I had no idea there were actually really small Cereus and I don't really like linking to this other site ... but when googling, this one that grows 6 to 12 inches in height popped up: http://davesgarden.com/guides/...

Tarev,

Thanks for the link.

That link may say it all, actually. The following note: "Species Notes: The name Cereus peruvianus is not an officially accepted name and is often applied to cereus-like cacti in cultivation with no known origin. For more info refer to this article."

That referenced article is good reading. In it the author says "The name Cereus peruvianus has been applied to both C. hildmannianus and C. repandus which are both recognized as legitimate species today. The trouble is, neither of them resemble the many plants that we see labeled as Cereus peruvianus." He goes further and states the plants are simply not properly identified. It's the authors' belief they are cultivated plants not found in the wild. He suggests that it's going to take DNA evaluation to establish the truth of it. I wish I knew what year he published the article.

Well, none of that leaves me with a sound id. I guess I'll just make an entry on the plant list using the name provided and use both C. hildmannianus and C. repandus as alternative names. It just doesn't seem settled enough to me to say it's one or the other with any certainty. This is the sort taxonomic nomenclature that tends to bounce around like a tennis ball in play.

Lin,

I suspect the link in DG is probably a mistake. It fits quite nicely in the group if everywhere it says inches is measured as feet instead. I'm not familiar the plant and when I got it home and read that it says the height was measured in feet, I thought at first it was a misprint. I do like the much colder temps it can survive seen in the links y'all provided. At 20F I might be able to situate it on the west side of a stone retaining wall and have it survive a winter here. That's if I'm successful growing it in a container until the size is unmanageable.

Donald, I bet it will do fine in 20ºF temps ... even here in Florida we have frosts and hard freezes at times; as long as you don't get really long freezes and if the plant is grown dry during the winter I'd think it would survive.

I wonder if we can get a general database entry for Cereus. I'll post over on the database forum and see what happens.

I think Evan might be checking into that already? I wonder if @skylark could give any input?

Done!

Donald: I'm old ... and slow! :greengrin:

Evan:

Most of my cacti do good in the cold, down to the 20's as long as it is dry.

Evan,

This one? Cereus

Edit:
Never mind, Evan! I found the answer in the Plant Database Forum. Thanks.

needrain said:Wow! The growth habit goes from 6' + on the label to "Slowly upright and branched to 20 feet (specific variants can grow to 50 feet)" on that webpage!

It lists as a common name "night blooming cereus". I've known about 4 different people totally unconnected from each over a span of many years that grew a plant they called "night blooming cereus" and this is definitely not the same as those plants. LOL.

What a mess. I'd buy the common name hedge cactus because it's pretty descriptive of what this looks like. I've never heard of 'hedge cactus' though. Maybe some of the folks on the cactus and succulents can help? @adamgreen @tarev @esperanza Someone just had a plant that was grafted onto a different rootstock that reminded me of this one (in my mind, at least). I can't remember where that was posted. It may not be remotely similar when I see the photo again.

Donald, I posted a picture of an elkhorn euphorbia in the cloth and cement container thread(might be what you were thinking of) that I took off a graft and yours kind of does look like it crests like that, but I do not think it is any relation. Looking forward to seeing a better picture. I am sure you will be able to enjoy it in a pot for many years before having to make a decision on where to plant it. It might be only a giant in more tropical zones than yours.

needrain said:Evan,

This one? Cereus

Edit:
Never mind, Evan! I found the answer in the Plant Database Forum. Thanks.

Glad you found it. Sorry I posted at the same time you did.

Yes, Audrey, that's the one I was remembering. I was just remembering the wavy form (I call that kind of growth 'cockscomb'). I didn't think they were going to be the same, but then I couldn't find where I seen it! Thanks.

i'm late here. it's very hard to see the detail on the pic, i took the liberty of increasing the brightness, but a closer view from the top would be better.


i have a Cereus peruvianus 'Monstrose' and it looks very different from yours. i went thru some pains trying to ID it, so i am pretty sure about it. i also found a great specimen in bot. garden - see it in DB.
mine only doubled in size in 2 decades to whopping 30", but it's indoors and it has much less light then in conservatory. so the height variation can be tremendous depending on growing conditions.
there is cereus 'Ming Thing' that is supposed to be a dwarf variety 12"-18" - and it's been sold in the past few years in BBS. i've also seen 'Ming Thing mini' mentioned. but they all look different from yours.
while i was trying to ID mine i came around this list: may be you can go thru it and look at pics to see, if anything matches yours?
Additional valid synonyms are:
Cactus peruvianus
Cactus repandus
Cephalocereus atroviridis
Cephalocereus remolinensis
Cereus margaritensis var. micracanthus
Pilocereus atroviridis
Pilocereus remolinensis
Pilocereus repandus
Pilocereus russelianus subsp. margaritensis
Piptanthocereus peruvianus
Subpilocereus atroviridis
Subpilocereus grenadensis
Subpilocereus margaritensis
Subpilocereus remolinensis
Subpilocereus repandus
Subpilocereus repandus subsp. micracanthus
Subpilocereus russelianus var. margaritensis

@skylark

Thanks. Right now I'm sort of the opinion that the classification of the plant probably isn't settled yet, if it ever will be However, it got potted in a real container this week and here are some photos taken in afternoon sun. I'm not sure they will help any. I'll go through the list you provided, but I'm not very hopeful about finding a firm identity for the plant.