Expert: Greg Simpson - 8/2/2007

Question
I bought a cactus from a Wal-Mart several months ago but the tab that came with it was very vague on what kind of cactus it was. It is a deep green color about 4-5 inches tall and about 2 inches in diameter. It has spines about 3/4"-1" long surrounded by shorter ones. It also seems to produce some sort of local antiseptic because it fell of of our shelf and I regettably tried to catch it and it got me pretty good and numbed my whole arm all the way up to my shoulder. Also within the last few weeks the top part of it has been(for lack of a better term)spreading out and turning a light green to white color. Thank you for your time.

Answer
Matt,

I am sorry for the delay in answering you, have had some computer issues that are now resolved. If you can, please send me a picture to gregandkat@msn.com

I would recommend seeing a doctor and asking him about a tetanus shot. I have been poked so many times, I don't have to worry about tetanus.

Sincerely,

Greg