Coral Cactus

[FrankMi]

This is the first time I have seen one of these and was intrigued by its unusual shape.

Apparently the coral cactus is not actually a cactus. It is a euphorbia that has experienced a mutation that causes it to become crested. The plant is native in Asia and is properly called Euphorbia lactea. The mutation is rare and is a sought-after trait by their Thai growers. The euphorbia is grafted onto a cactus stem to give it a sturdy base and an interesting look.

I was going to shoot this from a lower angle but in doing so I couldn't get a good view of the crested shape.

[orlcam88]

Nice shot and interesting plant.

[Teton Chuck]

Frank, this a very nice photo of an unusual plant. The focus is on the money and the colors are so soft - very nice.
chuck

[Bobobird]

Very interesting looking plant. I am off to Asia in a week or so and will be looking around for some for sure.

Can you tell us how you got the soft colours ?

[darknight]

nice shot frank, i collect cactus and found one of these in a bad way in a shop, they had no idea what it was, so i got it cheap, sadly it died on me 6 months later.

[Mike Buckley]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing it. Consider buying one and photographing it under studio conditions.

[FrankMi]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! This one was in the local garden centre.

I didn't do anything special in post processing other than focus stacking so the colours are pretty much natural. I looked this plant up on the web and the colours there are pretty much what you see here. I did note that it will lose most of the purple on the edges and then seasonally explode in new growth with flowers and bright purple edge colouring.

For the colouring, take a look here: http://hereswhatletsdo.blogspot.com/...al-cactus.html

For care and feeding, look here: http://suite101.com/article/coral-ca...-plant-a404170

Note that like many plants, this plant is poisonous so be careful with toddlers and pets.