---
title: "my thanksgiving cactus has taught me something new. the three-sided…"
description: "my thanksgiving cactus has taught me something new. the three-sided pad is caused by fasciation, a random genetic mutation in some cactuses that causes three…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/K7LtG42Mt5ubV4ffoxhAxI"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "plantgeek"
published: "2026-07-09T14:37:39.920239Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/fg8tCwCAsnlhbz1owurGSLidrTKbwTdu-tvCCDLBR-4/7BsGa7vBR46zc_YkXGmwUw.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Anything about plants](https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg.md)

# my thanksgiving cactus has taught me something new. the three-sided…

_Posted by plantgeek on 2026-07-09_

my thanksgiving cactus has taught me something new. the three-sided pad is caused by fasciation, a random genetic mutation in some cactuses that causes three or four sided pads. it's not harmful or indicative of any care issues, they just do this sometimes. i'm curious if the following pads from this one maintain this shape? i've never seen this before but apparently the holiday cactuses (and dragonfruit?) do it fairly often

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/fg8tCwCAsnlhbz1owurGSLidrTKbwTdu-tvCCDLBR-4/7BsGa7vBR46zc_YkXGmwUw.webp?size=large)

## 4 comments

### LeafyGreenhouse commented on 2026-07-09

Yes mine does retain these leaves but granted she is a holiday cactus not a thanksgiving cactus

#### plantgeek replied on 2026-07-09

"holiday cactus" is the catchall term for easter, thanksgiving, and christmas cactuses :-) they're all separate species but are very similar and often confused for one another. here's a chart for the differences

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/fg8tCwCAsnlhbz1owurGSLidrTKbwTdu-tvCCDLBR-4/W2jzfwpkSw6_hOVwlWz-KA.webp?size=large)

#### LeafyGreenhouse replied on 2026-07-09

Thank you lol! I knew they were similar but not that similar

### Magpie commented on 2026-07-10

I have one three-sided segment in my entire plant. The segments that grew from it are only two-sided.

---

_Source: the Planta community (https://getplanta.com). Reading is open to everyone. To post, comment and like, get the Planta app: https://getplanta.com/download_