Rhipsalis, the fat plant against stress
Bella really is, of effect and so scenic, instinctively she would want to touch it right away to see if it's real or fake.
But the Rhipsalis Cassutha - of Rhipsalis there are many other varieties! - it has another great quality: it is the decorative evergreen that is the enemy of stress, says a research by the University of Surrey, in England.
It is a plant of a beautiful intense green, belonging to the Cactaceae family, totally without thorns and aesthetically composed of many small fleshy cylindrical filaments that descend into a lush green waterfall .
The plant, after some time, produces small white or colored star flowers in the winter period at the end of each stem.
Originating from sunny and warm places, Rhipsalis grows wild in Central America, in the Caribbean and is characteristic of the Brazilian Mata Atlantica .
How to grow Rhipsalis
The Rhipsalis does not require much care and, in Italian latitudes, is good in the apartment, even better if exposed to the north and near a light source.
Just be careful because it fears the cold, does not resist frost and does not like air currents: its ideal temperature is around 10 ° -20 ° C.
The soil, as for the other Cactaceae, should not be particularly rich, the important thing is that it is well drained, for this you can make a layer of expanded agilla or gravel or pumice stone mixed with sand and earth on the bottom of the pot.
It is watered in small dosages, about every two weeks, preferably with rain or non-calcareous water.
Curiosity on the anti-stress plant
Should your neighbor ask for it or if you want to make a special gift, you should know that Rhipsalis can be generated from cuttings ; during the summer season, it is enough to take a piece of the tree, leaving it to root in a mixture of sand and toba to have, within a few months, already several plants.
The ethnicity of the Toba, in Argentina, used the rhipsalis plant in its own pharmacopoeia.
Read: Cactuspro.com, The Cactus and Succulent Journal of Great Britain.
