Rare Wax Rose Cactus Plant - Pereskia - Easy to Grow!

by Hirts: Cacti & Succulents

Product Features

• Rare Wax Rose Cactus - Pereskia bleo
• This unusual plant makes an easy to grow house plant.
• The plant prefers full sun and temperatures above 50 degrees.
• Water when dry.
• The plant you will receive is growing in a 3" pot. The plants are about 6 inches tall.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• ASIN: B000S95NCS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,843 in Patio, Lawn & Garden (See Top 100 in Patio, Lawn & Garden)

Product Description

Pereskia bleo is considered to be the original cactus, the ancestor as it were of all other cacti. Strangely enough, the plant looks nothing like a cactus. In fact it does not even resemble a succulent, but rather an exotic wild rose. Plus it is one of the few varieties of cacti to have leaves. The mystery deepens even further when we realize that the plant is the only one in its plant family. The rose like flower is over 3 inches across. Mature height is about 18 inches. The plant prefers full sun and temperatures above 50 degrees. Water when dry. This unusual plant makes an easy to grow house plant. As a side note research has shown the plant produces a compound that inhibits the growth of certain breast cancer cells. "School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Currently, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop alternative therapeutic measures against this deadly disease. Here, we report the cytotoxicity activity and the mechanism of cell death exhibited by the methanol extract prepared from Pereskia bleo (Kunth) DC. (Cactaceae) plant against human breast carcinoma cell line, T-47D. In vitro cytotoxicity screening of methanol extract of Pereskia bleo plant indicated the presence of cytotoxicity activity of the extract against T-47D cells with EC50 of 2.0 microg/ml. T-47D cell death elicited by the extract was found to be apoptotic in nature based a clear indication of DNA fragmentation which is a hallmark of apoptosis. In addition, ultrastructural analysis also revealed apoptotic characteristics (the presence of chromatin margination and apoptotic bodies) in the extract-treated cells. RT-PCR analysis showed the mRNA expression levels of c-myc, and caspase 3 were markedly increased in the cells treated with the plant extract. However, p53 expression was only slightly increased as compared to caspase 3 and c-myc.