The Christmas cactus is shrubby or treelike and grows 2-5 feet tall with many slender, cylindrical, segmented and jointed stems. Stems intertwine with each other and with other plants in the surrounding area resulting in an impenetrable fence (1,3,4). Stem segments are dark green in color and, with age, develop a scaly bark with a tan color. Each stem has linear tubercles. Each branch has broadly elliptical areoles with very short white-to-yellow and yellow-to-red-brown glochids. Areoles near the apex contain solitary concentrated or unevenly distributed spines which may be, red-brown, angular flattened basally, and either straight or curved (1,3,4). Yellow, green, or bronze flowers are produced at maturity, during late springtime but occasionally, as late as the fall. The petals of the corolla are narrowly obovate, acute, and apiculate. The sepals are ovate and cuspidate but may also be as acute as the inner perianth. The flowers are approximately 1 inch in diameter and open late in the afternoon to attract certain pollinators. Fertilized flowers become numerous red-orange fruits that persist on the cactus well into the winter. The fruit is small, only 0.5 in long by 0.2 wide. Fruit is turgid while being fleshy, spineless, and smooth (1,2,3,4,5).
