Not an actual cactus, candelabra cactus is easy to grow

On my living room floor once sat a clerodendron plant, a gift that became an indoor oasis of lush greenery and clusters of red-tipped white flowers. Problem was, I had to tiptoe among its sprawling stems every time I wanted to approach the window.

What’s sometimes needed in a houseplant is a bold plant, but with a small footprint.

Such a plant has replaced my clerodendron. It’s variously called candelabra cactus, hatrack cactus, or dragon bones, all of which describe it adequately.

CACTUS-LIKE, BUT NOT A CACTUS

The plant is not a cactus but a euphorbia, evidenced by the milky sap that oozes out of cut stems. It does look like a cactus, a saguaro cactus, not prickly but with similarly thick, upright stems that branch to make arms.

The stems look like what dragon bones might look like: thick, three-sided, with paired spines running down the ridges and a milky green line dripping down each of the three flat faces. A few small, spoonshaped leaves now cap the very ends of some branches.

Flowers? No, dragon-bones has never been known to flower. Too bad, because its flowers might be spectacular if they were anything like those of its cousins, poinsettia and crown-of-thorns.

HARD TO FIND, EASY TO PROPAGATE

For some reason, you do not often see candelabra cactus for sale, or even mentioned in gardening books. The plant is easy enough to propagate, though.

My first plant started out as an impenetrable hedge that I happened upon during a visit to the tropical island of St. Croix. As soon as I saw this hedge, I borrowed a knife and took cuttings: two pieces of stem, each a half-foot or so in length.

Like those of other succulents, candelabra cactus cuttings root best if initially allowed to dry out and callus over. Letting them sit out on a tabletop was the best I could do for them anyway for the few days until I returned home. Once home, I stuck the base of each of the stems into a mix of peat moss and perlite, watered them, and then watered again only when the mix was bone dry. Rooting and growth soon followed.

EASY TO GROW

Candelabra cactus can be

LEE REICH VIA AP This photo shows a candelabra cactus growing in New Paltz, N.Y. Although not a true cactus, the so-called candelabra cactus is as easy to grow and to care for as any cactus.