Beautiful white flowers that open after dark and close as the sun rises are interesting and unusual enough.
But also consider that such flowers may be sweetly scented, with sepals of red, purple, or green, and I’m sure you will agree that the gardener has something to be enthusiastic about.
Hylocereus Group
The most popular group of these nocturnal flowers is probably Hylocereus, consisting of 18 different varieties, of which H. undatus, the Honolulu Queen, is best known.
Of climbing habit, it has long, three-angled stems which grow as long as 40′ feet in the tropics, the aerial roots clinging to trees and branches.
The white flowers have yellow-green sepals and may appear in dozens at a time. There are also red-flowered varieties of Hylocereus, which are very rare and extremely difficult to obtain.
In a remote Guatemalan village, half-hidden by a volcanic mountain, festivals are held in honor of the ‘Honolulu Queen.’ As the huge vanilla-scented blossoms open, processions of natives carry flaming torches through the streets to the strains of traditional melodies.
Celebrations take place, and laughter fills the air. City dwellers, too, like arranging parties on summer evenings to show guests what a thrilling sight the flowering of this ‘Queen of the Night” can be.
Selenicereus Group
Another widely-known group is Selenicereus, native to the West Indies, Texas, Mexico, and Argentina. This plant also climbs the trunks of trees using aerial roots, or where there are no trees, it merely trails along the ground.
The flowers are very large and white with various colored backs and are thought by some enthusiasts to be the most beautiful of all the night-blooming cereus.
A very well-known variety is S. grandifloras, from which, in the past, the juice was extracted from the stems and used as a heart tonic.
A friend of mine who started this variety a few years ago as a nine-inch cutting now has a fine plant ten feet long which has flowered well and is beginning to grow around the corner of his greenhouse.
Nyctocereus
Nyctocereus also comes from Mexico. This is a slender-stemmed family with flowers of pink or white.
Varieties include the following:
- N. guatemalensis
- N. Hirchtianus
- N. serpentinus
The latter is known as the ‘Snake’ or ‘Serpent’ cactus and will grow satisfactorily under almost any conditions.
Harrisias
Then there are the Harrisias from the Bahamas and West Indies. Large white flowers with gold-tipped stamens are borne at the tips of elongated, spiny stems.
Among the many kinds, possibly the best known are H. Bon plan di, the wool cereus, and H. Jusbertii, the moon cereus.
These plants can be grown successfully in the greenhouse or living room, but warmth and plenty of leaf mold in the compost are essential in winter.
Lophocereus
Lophocereus, sometimes known as the ‘Totem Pole Cactus,’ is a very curious plant indeed. Tall, stout, and columnar, it has thick spines and a bristly top from which several rather small flowers emerge.
The most sought-after variety is the monstrous form, often termed ‘Lemaireocereus Mieckleyanus’—it is quite spineless and smooth, with irregular ribs.
Night Bloomer Epiphyllums
Almost all the true Epiphyllums are night-bloomers. Native to Central and South America, they are to be found growing high up in the crotches of the jungle trees, obtaining their nourishment from the rich humus in which they grow, but never from their hosts.
Stems are long, thin, and waxy, hanging pendants in their natural growth: flowers are lily-like and funnel-shaped, often nearly a foot long.
The Epiphyllums make good room plants, flowering very readily. They do best in half-shade and like plenty of water while growing but should be kept fairly dry otherwise. E. o.vypetalum is a good variety.
Often known as the ‘Dutchman’s Pipe,’ the flowers are reddish-brown on the outer petals and pure white inside. Leaves are flat with wavy edges.
These nocturnal plants are all true cacti. Not a single one of them, according to modern ways of classifying plants, is a cereus, although we commonly call them that.
Easy To Cultivate Groups
Like other members of this amazing family, they are easy to cultivate and will thrive cheerfully with a minimum of attention.
A good potting compost consists of three parts garden loam, two parts sharp river sand, two parts thoroughly decomposed leaf mold, two parts broken brick, and a half part old mortar rubble.
For Epiphyllums, remove the mortared rubble and add a little extra leaf mold. You can also add a little bone meal if you wish, but if you want good flowers, it is better not to overfeed. Neither should you overpot. Good drainage is essential.
Most of these night-blooming plants need to be shaded during the hottest part of the year and liberally watered. However, during the winter months, little water is required.
44659 by Rose Tennent