Plush

One of my favourite things about Schlumbergera flowers is the fact that the stigma looks as though it's upholstered in plush fabric. You probably wouldn't want to sit on it though because it's sticky, so as to be able to trap pollen. You have been warned.

Having told someone the other day with great confidence that I know how to tell the difference between the three main varieties of this plant, which you do by looking at the shape of the leaves, I've since seen a web page that contradicts what I thought I knew. I had believed that the spikier the leaves, the more Christmasy your cactus (for which my mnemonic was the spikiness of Christmas trees); but this page states that the spikiest variety is the Thansgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), whereas the true Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) has more rounded points. In which case this probably isn't a Christmas cactus at all, and I'm going to have to do extra learning and find a new mnemonic. I hate it when that happens.

In better news, I finished my Christmas shopping this morning, and the wrapping this afternoon. Not to brag or anything, but I believe I'm now entitled to sit around looking queenly, eating chocolate truffles and and drinking prosecco, until New Year.