Flora of North America species comparison

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Hylocereus undatus

night-blooming cere us, nightblooming cactus
Habit Plants sprawling or clambering over rocks, shrubs, and trees.
Stems

usually sharply 3-angled, to 500+ × 4–7.5 cm;

ribs with undulate margins and gray, hornlike bark;

areoles 2 mm diam.
Spines

1–4 per areole, brownish gray, inconspicuous.
Flowers

fragrant;

outer tepals white, outermost strongly reflexed, midstripes yellowish green;

inner tepals white, broad, oblanceolate;

filaments 50–75 mm;

style cream, 175–200 mm.
Fruits

spheric to oblong.
Seeds

2 × 1 mm.
2n

= 22.

Hylocereus undatus
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Disturbed sites in sandy soils [tropical deciduous and semideciduous forests]
Elevation 0-50 m (0-200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Hylocereus undatus is sporadically naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide where it is cultivated for its large, edible fruits and beautiful flowers, which are among the largest in the cactus family. In Florida, H. undatus has escaped from cultivation in nine counties, forming large colonies in some areas. Individuals of this species grow prolifically and may soon overrun their substrate. Whether populations of H. undatus in the United States are merely persisting or are also reproducing sexually remains unclear.

The vernacular name night-blooming cereus has been applied to several genera of cacti with large, nocturnal flowers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 175.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Hylocereus
Synonyms Cereus undatus
Name authority (Haworth) Britton & Rose: in N. L. Britton, Fl. Bermuda, 256. (1918)
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Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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