Many of the Epiphillums at the Mermaid originally came from the collection of Catherine Penny, who’s family were early settlers in our neighborhood. Her husband, Melvin, help build the Mermaid pool in the early 1940‘s, and there is a street uphill from the Mermaid bearing their name -- “Penny Road”. I recall seeing these unusual spider-like plants climbing high up into a huge oak tree in their front yard before they passed on.

Later I learned they were called Epiphyllums and native to Central America.

After Mrs. Penny died, Melvin had a big yard sale, and I offered to buy all the potted plants for a for a flat price. He agreed, and many pick-up truckloads of potted plants, Epiphyllums included, found a new home at the Mountain Mermaid.

Epiphyllums are very “succulent” (water-retaining), forgiving, and drop-dead easy to propagate. For a decade, a forgotten potted Epiphyllum sat on the Mermaid roof-deck without water for months at a time and lived. I have had great success inserting branch cuttings into a pot in any kind of soil. I have read that their fruits are edible and that some species are added to hallucinogenic beverages in the Amazon for divinatory and healing purposes.

The antique pot in the picture below was manufactured by the well-known early-California ceramic company, “Gladding Mc Bean”, and likely came from the Penny’s place. The pair of rustic chandeliers now hanging in Mermaid’s dining room were also from the Penny’s homestead, where they were discovered half-buried in the back yard.

The Annual Blooming

of the Epiphyllums

Photos and text by Bill Buerge

Orchid Cactus, another name for these are fairly unspectacular most of the year

consisting of a tangle of trailing thick scalloped leaf-branches.

Then, amazingly, from February thru June they explode with

a profusion of dazzling flowers, in shades of red, orange, gold and pink.

They dwarf anything else in the Mermaid gardens

in terms of their color and magnificence.