night blooming cereus
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Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to a large number of flowering ceroid cacti that bloom at night. The flowers are short lived, and some of these species, such as ''
Selenicereus grandiflorus ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' is a cactus species originating from the Antilles, Mexico and Central America. The species is commonly referred to as queen of the night, night-blooming cereus (though these two terms are also used for other speci ...
'', bloom only once a year, for a single night, though most put out multiple flowers over a period of several weeks, each of which opens for only a single night. Other names for one or more cacti with this habit are princess of the night, Honolulu queen (for ''
Hylocereus undatus ''Selenicereus undatus'', the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of the genus ''Selenicereus'' (formerly ''Hylocereus'') in the family Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a fr ...
''), Christ in the manger, dama de noche and queen of the night (which is also used for an unrelated plant species).


Genera and species

While many cacti referred to as night-blooming cereus belong to the tribe Cereeae, other night-blooming cacti in the subfamily Cactoideae may also be called night-blooming cereus. Cacti which may be called by this name include: * '' Cereus'' * ''
Echinopsis ''Echinopsis'' is a large genus of cacti native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** ...
'' (usually ''
Echinopsis pachanoi ''Echinopsis pachanoi'' (syn. ''Trichocereus pachanoi'')—known as San Pedro cactus—is a fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes Mountains at in altitude. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and it ...
'', San Pedro cactus) * ''
Epiphyllum ''Epiphyllum'' (; "upon the leaf" in Greek) is a genus of epiphytic plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), native to Central America and South America. Common names for these species include climbing cacti, orchid cacti and leaf cacti, though ...
'' (usually ''
Epiphyllum oxypetalum ''Epiphyllum oxypetalum'', the Dutchman's pipe cactus, princess of the night or queen of the night, is a species of cactus. It blooms nocturnally, and its flowers wilt before dawn. Though it is sometimes referred to as a night-blooming cereus, it ...
'', gooseneck cactus; grown as an indoor houseplant throughout the world, and the most popular cultivated night-blooming cereus) * '' Harrisia'' * ''
Hylocereus ''Hylocereus'' is a former genus of epiphytic cactus, cacti, often referred to as night-blooming cactus (though the term is also used for many other cacti). Several species previously placed in the genus have large edible fruits, which are known ...
'' (of which ''
Hylocereus undatus ''Selenicereus undatus'', the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of the genus ''Selenicereus'' (formerly ''Hylocereus'') in the family Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a fr ...
'' is the most frequently cultivated outdoors, and is the main source of the commercial fruit crop,
dragonfruit A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous (ecology), indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the ge ...
) * ''
Monvillea ''Acanthocereus'' is a genus of cactus, cacti. Its species take the form of shrubs with arching or climbing stems up to several meters in height. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''άκανθα'' (''acantha''), me ...
'' * '' Nyctocereus'' (usually ''
Nyctocereus serpentinus ''Peniocereus'' is a genus of vining cacti, comprising about 18 species, found from the southwestern United States and Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states ...
'') * ''
Peniocereus ''Peniocereus'' is a genus of vining cactus, cacti, comprising about 18 species, found from the southwestern United States and Mexico. They have a large underground tuber, thin and inconspicuous stems. Its name comes from the prefix ''penio-'' ( ...
'' ('' Peniocereus greggii'', the best known, is strictly a desert plant which grows from an underground tuber and is infrequently cultivated) * ''
Selenicereus ''Selenicereus'', sometimes known as moonlight cactus, is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic, and terrestrial cacti, found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The term night-blooming cereus is also sometimes use ...
'' (usually ''
Selenicereus grandiflorus ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' is a cactus species originating from the Antilles, Mexico and Central America. The species is commonly referred to as queen of the night, night-blooming cereus (though these two terms are also used for other speci ...
'') * ''
Trichocereus ''Echinopsis'' is a large genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. One small species, ''E. chamaecereus'', is known as the peanut cactus. The 128 species range from lar ...
''


Description

Regardless of genus or species, night-blooming cereus flowers are almost always white or very pale shades of other colors, often large, and frequently fragrant. Most of the flowers open after nightfall, and by dawn, most are in the process of wilting. Plants in the same geographical area tend to bloom on the same night. Also for healthy plants there can sometimes be as many as three separate blooming events spread out over the warmest months. The plants that bear such flowers can be tall, columnar, and sometimes extremely large and tree-like, but more frequently are thin-stemmed climbers. While some night-blooming cereus are grown indoors in homes or
greenhouses A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These s ...
in colder climates, most of these plants are too large or ungainly for this treatment, and are only found outdoors in tropical areas.


Cultivation and uses

The dried flowers of the night-blooming cereus
霸王花
are a common ingredient used in
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
slow-simmered soup (
traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
: 老火湯;
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
: ''lǎohuǒ tāng'';
Jyutping Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK), an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme. The LSHK advocates for ...
: ''lou5 fo2 tong1''). Some night-blooming cereus plants produce fruits which are large enough for people to consume. These include some of the members of the genus ''Cereus'', but most commonly the fruit of the ''
Hylocereus ''Hylocereus'' is a former genus of epiphytic cactus, cacti, often referred to as night-blooming cactus (though the term is also used for many other cacti). Several species previously placed in the genus have large edible fruits, which are known ...
''. ''Hylocereus'' fruit have the advantage of lacking exterior spines, in contrast to the fruit of cacti such as the ''Selenicereus'' fruit, being brightly colored, and having a pleasant taste. Since the late 1990s, ''Hylocereus'' fruit have been commercially grown and sold in tropical locations like Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hawaii.


See also

*
Ceroid cactus The term ceroid cactus (or sometimes just cereus) is used to describe any of the species of cacti with very elongated bodies, including columnar growth cacti and epiphytic cacti. The name is from the Latin '' cēreus'', wax taper (slender candle ...
*
Pitaya A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ( ...
* Queen of the Night


References

Notes {{reflist Sources
Night Blooming Cereus Bud to Bloom documentation over 33-day period
Night-blooming plants Plant common names Cactoideae