''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' is a

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

originating from the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. The species is commonly referred to as queen of the night, night-blooming cereus (though these two terms are also used for other species), large-flowered cactus, sweet-scented cactus or vanilla cactus. The true species is extremely rare in cultivation. Most of the plants under this name belong to other species or hybrids. It is often confused with the genus '' Epiphyllum''.

Etymology

is Latin for 'large flowered'. When

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

described this cactus in 1753 it was the largest flowered species of cacti known. Paradoxically, its flowers are moderate in size compared with several other ''Selenicereus'' species.

History

Linnaeus described it in 1753, but it was known long before. Records from Hortus Kewensis gives that the species was grown at Royal Gardens at Hampton Court before 1700. There has been doubt about which plant was available to Linnaeus when he drew up his description, but this is solved

Origin and habitat

It is native throughout the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti), Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and a few other locations in South and Central America. It is found climbing on trees and on rocks at an altitude of 700 metres. It has extremely variable stems, especially in Jamaica, with slightly wavy to strongly knobby margins occurring in the same plant, which causes confusion in cultivation. Many species of '' Selenicereus'' should be reduced to synonyms of

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of this species, differing merely in degree rather than in kind.

Cultivation

''S. grandiflorus'' is a fast-growing

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

and lithophytic plant, though it takes two to three years to begin producing blooms. Keep it on the dry side each winter, and move it outdoors under a shade tree in late spring. It needs compost containing plenty of humus and sufficient moisture in summer. It should not be kept under 5 °C (41 °F) in winter and performs best if grown in full sun. Extra light in the early spring will stimulate budding. Flowers in late spring or early summer, only blooms one night a year for several years and withers within hours.

Description

Stems scandent, clambering or sprawling, branching, sometimes forming tangles, producing aerial roots, stiff, to 10 m long or more, (10)15–25(–30)mm thick; ribs (4–)7–8(–10), low, less so on older branches, separated by broad, rounded intervals, slightly wavy to strongly knobby;

areole 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 ...

s small, wool white or greyish white, internodes (6–)12–20 mm; spines 5–18, to 4.5–12 mm, basally ca 0,25 mm in diameter, acicular, elliptic or circular in cross section, bulbous basally, spreading, yellowish brown to brownish or yellow, grey in age, eventually deciduous hairs from lower part of

± numerous white or brownish, mature vegetative areoles usually lacking hairs, juvenile plants have spines shorter and fewer; epidermis glaucous green or bluish green, often ± purplish, smooth.

Flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

17–22.5 cm long and reportedly as much as 15 inches (38 cm) in width. Fragrance reminding of vanilla and orange-flower; pericarpel 25 mm long, with bracteoles 5 mm, strap-shaped and yellowish, covered with nearly white or tawny hairs and sharp bristles; receptacle 7.5–8.7 cm, bracteoles 5–14mm, strap-shaped to linear, yellowish with long, nearly white or tawny, wavy hairs and sharp bristles in their axils, ca 25mm long; outer tepals 7.5–10 cm long, averaging 4.5 mm wide, linear-attenuate, light brown, salmon to pink buff, yellowish adaxially; inner tepals 7.5–10 cm long, 9–12(–15) mm, shorter than outer tepals, wide, lanceolate, gradually narrowed into a pointed or acute apex, white; stamens 38–50 mm long, delinate, white, anthers 1.5mm long, yellowish; style 15–20 cm long, often longer than inner tepals, 1.5 mm greatest diameter, stigma lobes 7–12, ca 7.5 mm long, slender. Fruit ovoid, 5–9 cm long, 4.5–7 cm thick, whitish, partly pink, pink, yellow or orange, covered with clusters of spines and hairs which soon drop off, juicy, the imbilicus small and inconspicuous. Four subspecies are recognized: **ssp. ''donkelaarii'' (Salm-Dyck) Ralf Bauer **ssp. ''grandiflorus'' **ssp. ''hondurensis'' (K.Schum. ex Weing.) Ralf Bauer **ssp. ''lautneri'' Ralf Bauer

Hybrids

''Selenicereus ×callianthus'' (Gaillard) Lindinger (1942). This is a hybrid between this

and '' Selenicereus pteranthus''. Many plants under the name ''Selenicereus grandiflorus'' may belong to this cross. It is very similar to '' Selenicereus pteranthus'', but stems more slender and spines, longer and yellowish.

References

External links

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Night-blooming cereus. Cereus grandiflorus (L)
Picture
Selenicereus grandiflorus
Pictures and time lapse movie of opening flower

{{Taxonbar, from=Q137139 grandiflorus Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Mexico Flora of Peru Flora of Florida Articles containing video clips Epiphytes Night-blooming plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Garden plants of Central America