"Queen of the Night" Orchid cactus
















Friday, The 3rd of October 2008






Please click on the pictures to enlarge











Orchid Cactus






























The Orchid Cactus, has bloomed tonight!

ummm .. & it stirs up a lot of emotions within….
Its heartening ..
Like my niece just commented on the images..
‘ A thing of beauty is joy for ever….’

& Tomorrow it will no more….



Orchid Cactus, Jungle Cactus, Night Blooming Cereus,
Botanical name:
Epiphyllum oxypetalum
Family: Cactaceae (cactus family)

Epiphyllum Oxypetalum is by far the most extensively cultivated species from this genus of cacti.
Cactus grows as an epiphyte
(a plant that grows on top of or is supported by another plant but does not depend on it for nutrition) in the tropical rainforests of Guatemala and Honduras.
These rainforests have high humidity, and temperatures that are constant throughout the year.


Orchid cactus blooms at night, since the flowers are mostly pollinated by bats and large moths.
They have large white star-like flowers to help their pollinators locate the blossoms by moon or star light, and many have very lovely fragrances.
Pure white flowers, the size of a dinner plate, open as soon as the sun goes down and stay open all night, closing in the morning.
Stems are erect, climbing or sprawling, profusely branched, primary stems cylindrical, to 2-6 m long, flattened laterally. Also note the thick bluish-green branches that are stiff, strong, and upright growing. & have deep notches at the areoles, and crenate margins.
Secondary Stems (which look like leaves) are flat, elliptic-acuminate, to 30 cm x 10-12 cm, thin; margins shallowly crenate
{ having a scalloped edge or a surface with rounded projections} and wavy.
Flowers are produced from flattened portions, to 30 cm long, 12-17 cm wide, nocturnal, very fragrant.

Epiphyllums are without a doubt genuine cacti, but are more often labeled as "Epicacti" or "jungle cacti" to differentiate them from related desert flora.
The great size and shape of the flowers, as well as their often intoxicating sweet heady scent, comes from the wild Epiphyllum genes .




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trees Of Jaipur III

Image
Wednesday October 8th 2008. 1. KHEJARI : Local Name. Botanical name: Prosopis Cineraria Druce. The Khejri tree is the State Tree of Rajasthan, India. It’s a thorny small tree…. deep-rooted making it thus drought resistant. Khejri tree is sacred & is considered lucky to grow at home. It has many uses . .. Its thorny branches are cut and used as a fence to keep animals away from crops, The leaves are dried and used for feed and its bean-like fruit can be eaten ripe or unripe. The wood is used as fuel. 2. Castor Tree : Castor bean, Castor oil plant, Wonder tree • Hindi : Arandi Botanical name: Ricinus communis The castor tree, is an upright, tropical is a small tree, grows up to 30 feet tall. The Green leaves have uneven edge. The flat seeds are in a seedpod that burst when ripen. When mature the oblong fruit turns brown. The seeds of castor oil plant, are very poisonous…,however, once prepared commercially castor oil contains no toxic characteristics.. The oil extracted from the bea
Read more

Trees Of Jaipur I: Indian Gooseberry

Image
Saturday 4th October 2008 Common name: Amla, Indian Gooseberry. Botanical name: Phyllanthus emblica. 1. A mla (pronounced Awanlah) {N is silent} Is an indigenous tree to the Indian subcontinent, Amla is a small to medium sized deciduous tree (plants that shed their leaves annually at the approach of a season of cold or drought), reaching 8 to 18 m in height, the fruit is edible of the same name. The Tree is pleasing to look at….with crooked trunk and spreading branches drooping down. The leaves are simple, nearly stalk less and closely set along slender branchlets. The leaves are often mistaken for leaflets of pinnate leaves (describes a leaf that has a central axis or stem with parts branching off it). The flowers are small, greenish-yellow or pinkish. The fruit is nearly spherical, light greenish yellow, quite shiny and hard looking, with 6 vertical stripes or furrows. Ripening in autumn, the berries are harvested by hand after climbing to upper branches bearing the fruits. Sour &
Read more

Gratifying Garden

Image
Please click on the pictures to enlarge Front Lawn Cacti and Aloe Plant Side Veranda Lawn To Go Green Is Positive The saplings planted today will grow tomorrow. As a consequence it is: Rewarding Satisfying Heartwarming Pleasing Munificent Bountiful..and then wait .. Serenity will be bestowed with patience and persistence.
Read more