Queen of the Night
Selenicereus grandiflorus
Curious that other photos show flat, leaf-like stems, while mine has tubular, cactus-like stems.
(NOTE: when this photo was originally posted, it was mistakenly under Epiphyllum oxypetalum. It has since been moved/corrected).
This message was edited Sunday, Jun 27th 1:23 AM
I've noticed that too. I have some new cuttings of this plant that I got from my old neighbor's yard in St. Petersburg, Florida--we visited down there this past New Years--and my cuttings have the tubular shape like yours.
I lived next door to this plant for almost 10 years, and it has been climbing up a sycamore tree since the 1950's, when those houses were built, and the flower show on July nights is absolutely spectacular--a lot of the neighbors will bring lawn chairs and beer and sit around and talk and wait for the flowers to bloom--they are the size of dinner plates!
Very interesting! Thanks for the response. What a coincidence that you mention St. Petersburg, FL, as that is where I live! A friend who lives a few blocks away gave a piece a few years ago, and I hung it in a pot attached to my maple tree. Now, it has grown all up in the tree. Last year it bloomed 5 or 6 flowers, but right now it has about 20 flower buds on it! It should begin blooming anytime in the next week or two. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks again for the response.
Your plant is a different one.
Yes, I agree with Scooterbug. Your stems are different because you have a different Epiphyllum, possibly Selenicereus grandiflorus. Epiphyllum oxypetalum has flat stems.
Have we settled on a firm decision on this one? I'll be happy to move it once all those with an opinion have weighed in ;o)
I have both of the plants that you are discussing, but the one that has cactuslike stems seems to bloom more.....I have shared cuttings of it with many people and a relative in Tampa has hundreds of blooms every year.....beautiful.......
This definitely is not the Epiphyllum oxypetalum , which has the flat stem (leaf) .
I have the Epiphyllum oxypetalum but I can not begin to guess what the plant pictured here really is. This is best left to our experts , as it seems there are 100's to choose from.
Interesting. I agree it seems to be a different species, although I suspect it must be closely related; the flowers are so incredibly similar to some of the others posted (though not all). The unopened buds are similar to one of the photos, too. I'd be interested to know exactly which species it is, if anyone knows. Thanks very much to all who've replied. (P.S. Two of the buds are so big right now, I expect them to probably bloom tomorrow night). (The photo I posted is from last year).
This family of plants confuses many people .
Here are some links for you to read =)
http://www.epiuniverse.com/modules.php?
name=Night_Blooming_Cereus .............. You'll need to go to 'your account ' on this page and sign in to use this site.
http://www.nybg.org/bsci/herb/selenicereusgrand.jpg
http://home.tiscali.nl/fuchsiaweb/herbarium/bladcactus.html
This message was edited Jun 7, 2004 11:13 PM
I think Clare_Ca
ID'd it correctly.
It is the second link (photo) I posted above. What do you think?
TTFN, Shirley
Check out this link: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropical/msg0419190026246.html
Kit is an author and somewhat knowledeable and writes:
"Ya'all should note that Gonz said Selenicereus, not the better known Hylocereus. Most ?-cereus cactus genera have large but very similar flowers - very hard to tell apart without the vegetation and often night blooming. You can usually catch them still open early in the morning, for at least half an hour after dawn, some well into the AM. Night bloomers are usually white or whitish. They are bat pollinated in the wild and white is more visible. Bright colors indicate day-bloomers which are attractive to birds. Bees are attracted to all in daylight.
"Selenicereus have rope-like stems with spines (Gonzer and Puggy's snake-cacti). Hylocereus has angled stems. Hylocereus undatus may have stems up to 3 inches thick and the largest flowers in the family (reina de la noche, pitaya, night-blooming cereus). The stems start out round and become flattened or angled with age.
"Epiphyllums have flattened stems. Most cacti lack leaves and have spines and/or glocids in the remnants of the leaf-axils. My white Epi. phyllanthus has delicate pure white flowers and blooms at night. The flowers droop by the time they get direct sun but you can still enjoy them with your early cupa Joe. The only fragrant one I am familiar with is Epi. oxypetalum. Its a night bloomer with flowers that resemble Gonz'.
"My colored ones are not fragrant and may last a night and a day so they are night as well as day blooming. I have numerous other colors all in one humungous basket.
"There are a number of species of Hylocereus in cultivation and they are 3-5 angled. Since there is little available in the literature to distinguish them they are usually all referred to as H. undatus, e.g. H. esquintlensis has 3-4 angles and the flowers are somewhat smaller. Like leaf lobes or leaflets, this is a general characteristic description and can vary slightly, though a number or range may be most common.
Selenicereus spp have shallow angles too - not completely cylindrical.
"I incorrectly said that Cereus is a retired genus. I meant to say that Hylocereus and other genera have been segregated from that genus. Kit"
Spaceman, it is beautiful whatever it is. Do post more pictures of your buds when they bloom if you can.
Too bad they redid Jims Epi Universe. It was way better before =((
I live in satellite beach fla and this is our night blooming cactus. I am standing in front of a palm tree and this cactus had grown up more than 15 feet to the top of the palm. Its quite beautiful!
This message was edited Monday, Jun 14th 10:02 PM
and here is a close up bloom of the same
Welcome to 'da club witt.
BTW .. Nice shot =)
Shirley in Smalltownrednecktracorville , WI .........LOL
Beautiful, witts. Actually, yours looks like either Selenicereus or, more likely, Hylocereus undulata, which likes to climb trees, because of the angled stems. Does yours bear red fruit, called Dragon Fruit?
THANK YOU CLARE...AND SCOOTERBUG...IT IS QUITE BEAUTIFUL. THERE HASNT BEEN ANY FRUIT ON THIS CACTUS THAT I AM AWARE OF HOWEVER IT CERTAINLY DOES LOVE TO CLIMB. IT IS PLANTED IN THE GROUND BESIDE THIS PALM AND HAS WEAVED ITSELF AROUND AND ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP AND DOWN AGAIN AND AGAIN. I CATCH MYSELF JUST SITTING OUT THERE IN AWE AND STARING AT IT IN AMAZEMENT. I HAVENT QUITE SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
It certainly does look like an awesome sight to be there in person. The blooms are supposed to have a wonderful fragrance as well. You are so lucky to have such a wonderful thing in your garden.
Thanks again to everyone who's been helping to identify my plant. I tend to agree with everyone that mine must be Selenicereus grandiflorus, although it doesn't quite look like the artist's image in the 2nd link of scooterbug's June 8th, 12:12am post, above. Perhaps because of the artist's rendition. Attached is another shot of a flower from last week.
Mine has the tubular stems, a small one of which can be seen in the photo. Well, I just went out in the yard and checked, and they DO have just a slight, very slight, angle to them, about 6-sided, if you can call them sides. But they are so CLOSE to being tubular, it's hard to tell....
So, perhaps this is a Hylocereus after all...???
The only thing that I am sure of is that it is not a Epiphyllum because the Epiphyllums have the flat stems. My guess would be Selenicereus grandiflora as well. I found a Hylocereus undatus, Dragon Fruit, also called Pitahaya, at a nursery yesterday. The stems were bigger and had larger angles than yours. It was $30 for a small rooted cutting!
More links:
Hylocereus undatus: http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Hylocereus_undatus.html
Selenicereus: http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Selenicereus.html
S_S yours is not the Night blooming cereus .
This NBC belongs to a good friend .................
http://plantsdatabase.com/showimage/28747/
You should maybe request Dave remove your entry as it is incorrect.
You have a real beauty and surely you will get an ID soon.
You cannot go on the flower image alone, there are dozens of cacti that have similar blooms.
Well, I finally used my brain and decided to see if there was already an entry for Selenicereus grandiflorus here on the webiste, and lo and behold, it was there! (Duh!) The pictures there match my plant perfectly. So, yes, I need to have my entry moved (or removed for me to re-post). I'm wondering how to do that.... (I'm a new member). (Couldn't find the answer on the FAQ). I will try getting a message through on the "Found an error" link, or maybe replying to my "welcome" email from "Dave" (admin@davesgarden.com).
Oops! Decided to use my brain again! Just re-read Terry's note above, offering to move it, so I will contact Terry.
Thanks!
This message was edited Sunday, Jun 27th 12:38 AM
LOL, Spaceman! Don't worry. Terry will see this and will make the change. I agree that you have a beautiful plant there. You are right that the flowers of those Epiphyllums and Selenicereus and Hylocereus are quite similar. I plan to someday have all of them -- well, all the fragrant ones anyway:-)
Scooterbug, that picture just amazes me. What a sight!
It's done!
Thanks, Terry. You are so on top of it!
