Plant · GBIF taxon 10334868
Night-blooming Cereus
Selenicereus undatusAlso known as Dragon Fruit Plant, White-fleshed Pitahaya, Pitaya, Belle of the Night
Night-blooming Cereus is a sprawling, climbing cactus best known for its massive, fragrant white flowers that open for a single night to attract nocturnal pollinators. Large, fleshy stems feature three distinct winged ribs with small spiny areoles that allow the plant to scramble up trees and rock faces. Following successful pollination, the plant produces vibrant pinkish-red scaled fruit filled with speckled seed-bearing pulp.
Climbing CactusNight BloomingFragrant
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—peak records
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Photosynthetic
Predators
- Ants
- Birds
- Rodents
ThreatsHabitat clearance, land conversion
HabitatsTropical dry forests, coastal thickets, rocky cliffs
Life span20–50 years
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- OrderCaryophyllales
- FamilyCactaceae
- GenusSelenicereus
- SpeciesSelenicereus undatus
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Wild fruits have toxic look-alikes; never eat based on app identification alone.
Responsible observation
- Observing blooms: Plan nocturnal visits around midnight when the flowers are fully expanded and emitting strong scent.
- Garden support: Provide a sturdy trellis or wall for heavy climbing stems to anchor onto using aerial roots.
Pollinator Joelr31~commonswiki (talk · contribs) / Public domain · cc0
Pollinator "Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar" by cbede is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. · cc-by
Close Relative (c) Claire Herzog, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Claire Herzog · cc-by
Image unavailableClose Relative
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