Hi Cindy,

That is not a cactus, but rather a euphorbia, perhaps E.trigona.

Be careful as the white sap is toxic in most euphorbias and can blister the skin of some people, and can cause excruciating pain in the eyes even from a very small amount of invisible residue on the hands if you later rub your eyes.

Peyton

I second everything Peyton said. Branches and tops can be cut off to shorten the plant can be rooted and planted again, but be very careful with the white sap. See the link below for more information about poisonous sap:

Euphorbia sap

For some reason I can't link directly to Frank's excellent tutorial on taking and growing Euphorbia cuttings, but use the link below and go to the section on taking and growing cuttings. Scroll down to find the English language version of that page:

Here is a link that might be useful: Succulent Euphorbias

Thankx to both of you and forgive my ignorance....have only been doing this for a year now...no wonder I could not find it in any of my books.

This was too good to turn down...poor thing would have ended up in the garbage otherwise.

Both have some sun burn and scaring but otherwise the only problem is with the second one...it was really cramed so grew sideways almost. That is the one that will have to be cut into 3 or 4 because I cannot see a way to straighten it. But I will then have several smaller plants!

Thankyou also for the link. I went and read online about this but that link will be VERY helpful.

I have to say that I knew enough from reading here in the forums about the dangers of sap to be very very careful even though I did not know what kind this was. Wore long sleeved shirt and jeans in 8u degree weather to transport this and then to transplant, along with leather gloves etc. Took clothing off right away after and changed.

So these forums have been helpful!!!

Thankx again...I appreciate all the help this newbie can get.

Cindy