T here is a rather lovely, but I feel rather unlikely, tale about the mistletoe cactus, Rhipsalis baccifera, and a homesick sailor. The mistletoe cactus is the only cactus that grows outside the New World. As well as America (North and South), you’ll encounter it in Sri Lanka and Africa, including the island of Madagascar. How it got from one side of the Atlantic to the other has long puzzled those who care.

One suggestion is that way back when Gondwana was the supercontinent and Africa and America were one, the mistletoe cactus was already in existence. When Africa and America split, the cactus chose a home on both sides: this is known as vicariance. Or perhaps dispersal is responsible – that is, the plant, rather than the Earth, moved. Birds eat the fruit of rhipsalis (the baccifera part of the Latin name refers to its lovely white berries), so they could be the reason it’s found in both places, though that’s a long flight for a bird, and no one has found a likely feathered candidate.

The cactus, if you are far from home, does resemble a mistletoe of sorts, particularly when it’s in fruit and those glistening white berries look similar to those of mistletoe. Perhaps more importantly, however, this is an epiphytic cactus, which means it grows in trees. Add the slender, circular, succulent stems to the picture and it starts to make a tall tale shorter. There is an idea that 16th-century ships moved it from Africa to America, perhaps as a mistletoe substitute, though whom the sailor wished to kiss under it will remain a mystery.

It’s rather a good cactus because it is spineless and likes dim conditions. It flops about in a pot in a pleasing way, rather like a mop of hair. There’s a hairy version, R. pilocarpa – aka the white-haired mistletoe cactus – for those who like hirsute things and can offer slightly brighter conditions (the white hairs protect the stems from direct light).

This is not a genus for direct sunlight; its epiphytic nature means the mistletoe cactus likes the dappled sunlight found when it is nestled in a tree canopy. Rhipsalis doesn’t mind a little early morning direct light or evening sun, but a proper roasting in midday beams will scorch the leaves.

In fact, it is the perfect house cactus for the bathroom with its humid conditions. Hang one on the shower rail or above the bath. It will need watering, but it hates to sit in the wet (and, if you make it do so, its roots will eventually rot), so let it dry out between waterings; water minimally over winter. The warmer the room, the more water it will need.

The flowers are white and appear over the summer, followed by the berries, though this tends to happen more often on mature plants.