''Selenicereus undatus'', the white-fleshed

pitahaya 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'' ...

, is a species of the genus ''

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 ...

'' (formerly ''Hylocereus'') in the family

Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a fruit crop - the pitahaya or dragon fruit.นิดดา หงส์วิวัฒน์ และทวีทอง หงส์วิวัฒน์. แก้วมังกร ใน ผลไม้ 111 ชนิด: คุณค่าอาหารและการกิน. กทม. แสงแดด. 2550 หน้า 37 - 39 Like all true

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

, the genus originates in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, but the precise native origin of the species ''S. undatus'' is uncertain and never been resolved; it may be a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

Description

Plant

Dragonfruit stems are scandent (climbing habit), creeping, sprawling or clambering, and branch profusely. There can be four to seven of them, between or longer, with joints from or longer, and thick; with generally three ribs; margins are corneous (horn-like) with age, and undulate.

Areoles In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cactus, cacti out of which grow clusters of Thorns, spines, and prickles, spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cactus, cacti, and identify them as a family distinct fr ...

, that is, the small area bearing spines or hairs on a cactus, are across with internodes . Spines on the adult branches are long, being acicular (needle-like) to almost conical, and grayish brown to black in colour and spreading, with a deep green epidermis. File:Starr 030702-0010 Hylocereus undatus.jpg, Segment File:Dragonfruit plant.jpg, Plant

Flowers

The scented, nocturnal flowers are long, wide with the

pericarpel In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It o ...

long, about thick, bracteoles ovate, acute, to 2.5 to less than long; receptacle about thick, bracteoles are linear-lanceolate, long; outer

tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

lanceolate-linear to linear, acuminate (tapering to a point), being long, wide and mucronate (ending in a short sharp point). Their colour is greenish-yellow or whitish, rarely rose-tinged; inner tepals are lanceolate (tapering to a point at the tip) to oblanceolate (i.e. more pointed at the base), up to long about wide at widest point, and mucronate, unbroken, sharp to acuminate (pointed), and white. File:Hylocereus undatus, jardín botánico de Tallinn, Estonia, 2012-08-13, DD 01.JPG, Flower bud File:HPIM0069.JPG, Blooming flower File:Hylocereus undatus in bloom in Kona.jpg, In bloom in

Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares ...

. Stamens long, are declinate, inserted in one continuous zone from throat to above the pericarpel and cream. The style (bearing the stigma) to 17, they are long, stout, thick, cream, and up to 26 stigma lobes, they can be whole or sometimes split at the top, cream, about long. Nectar chambers are long.

Fruit

The fruit is oblong to oval, long, thick, red with large

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

s, with white pulp and edible black seeds.

Habitat

''Selenicereus undatus'' is

lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

or hemiepiphytic. It is widely distributed through the tropics in cultivation. It is a sprawling or vining, terrestrial or epiphytic cactus. They climb by use of aerial roots and can reach a height of 10 meters (32.8 feet) or more growing on rocks and trees.

Systematics

This species is closely related to ''S. ocamponis'' and ''S. escuintlensis''. ''Selenicereus undatus'' was described by (Haw.) Britton & Rose and published in Flora of Bermuda 256. 1918. In 2017, D. R. Hunt groups the genus ''Hylocereus'' within the genus ''Selenicereus''. This has been supported by a phylogenetic analysis of the Hylocereeae tribe (Korotkova, et al., 2017), therefore this species is consigned under the name ''Selenicereus undatus''

Taxonomy

The species's epithet ''undatus'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

means "wavy" from ''unda'' "wave", referring to the wavy edges of its branches' ribs. Night Flowering Cereus Lanikai

Common names

*Dansk: Dragefrugt *English:

, dragon fruit, night blooming cereus, strawberry pear, Belle of the Night, Cinderella plant, Jesus in the cradle, moonflower *Estonian: maasik-metskaktus *Finnish: *French: pitaya, fruit du dragon, cierge-lézard, poire de chardon *German: Drachenfrucht, Distelbirne *Greek: Φρούτο του δράκου () *Hawaiian: ''panini-o-ka-puna-hou'' ("Punahou cactus") – a famous specimen still grows at

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

*Japanese: , , *Korean: Yong-gwa (용과, 龍果, literal translation of dragon fruit), *Portuguese: pitaia, cato-barse, cardo-ananaz, rainha da noite *Spanish: pitahaya roja (Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela); flor de caliz, pitajava (Puerto Rico); junco, junco tapatio, pitahaya orejona, reina de la noche, tasajo (Mexico) *Swedish: skogskaktus, röd pitahaya *Vietnamese: thanh long *Thai: แก้วมังกร (kaeo mangkon) *Malay: buah naga. pronounce:boo-ah naa-gaa * *Italian: Pitahaya, Frutto del Drago *Bengali: ড্রাগন ফল (dragon fal) *Lithuanian: *Myanmar: နဂါးမောက်သီး

References

External links

* *
Dragon fruit plant grower's tips, greenhouse, flower and more
{{Taxonbar, from=Q131730 undatus Cacti of Mexico Tropical fruit Desert fruits Flora of Central America Crops originating from Mexico Crops originating from the Americas Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Night-blooming plants Epiphytes