About 6 months ago I found a huge pile of Peruvian Apple Cactus on the side of the road. Someone had chopped down a tree or hedge of the cacti and thrown it out. Because of our persistent drought and climate change I figured I would pick it up and give it a try on our south facing fence and north facing lakefront and see what happened. It took two truck loads to haul it all to the house but I didn't let any of it die on the side of that road.
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I hadn't paid much attention to the plants. They are cactus trees, afterall. I had planted gourds along the south-facing fence a few weeks ago so every evening after dark I take buckets of water from the ponds to water the gourds. . .trying to keep them alive in the blazing hot and dry of May.
I noticed that the otherwise completely forgettable and overlooked cacti were sprouting buds, which I assume is a good sign that they are doing OK. I had read the literature about curing the stalks before replanting them, etc, etc. I didn't do any of that. I dug holes in the powder-dry sand and stuck the cacti in, trying to make sure I had them right side up. The top sides are kind of rounded whilst the bottoms are more flat.
This week the cacti have exploded into these magnificent blooms. Of course I'm the only person who sees them, as the blooms last for only one night, and only open after dark. They are fragrant and obviously evolved to attracts bats, moths and other nighttime pollinators. As you can see from the images there is plenty of pollen to be had.
Click on any image for a larger view
Queen of the Night
or
Night-Blooming Cereus
or
Peruvian Apple Cactus
but always
Cereus repandus or Cereus peruvians
Scientifically these are Cereus repandus (syn. Cereus peruvianus), or the Peruvian Apple Cactus. You'll hear them referred to colloquially as Queen of the Night, Night-blooming Cereus, Tree Cactus, Giant Club Cactus, Hedge Cactus, Cadushi, and Kayush. All are correct depending on who you're talking to.
Dragon Fruit
With an often tree-like appearance, the Peruvian Apple Cactus' cylindrical gray-green to blue stems can reach 10 m (33 feet) and 10-20 cm in diameter. The noturnal flowers remain open for only one night. The fruts, known locally as "pitaya," or "Olala (in Bolivia), or Peruvian Apple, are thornless and vary in skin colour from violet-red to yellow. The edible flesh is white and contains small, edible, crunchy seeds. The flesh sweetens as the fruit opens out fully. If you're a Foodie you'll know them coloquially as "dragon fruit."
Cereus repandus is an unresearched, under-utilized cactus, grown mostly as an ornamental plant.
Native to South America, as its name implies, this plant is also endemic in the ABC Islands and the Dutch Caribbean. How it made its way to Florida is anyone's guess.
Florida Native Cacti
For those who think cacti don't grown in Florida, this is an example of one that grows quite well. Another, prickly pear (below), is native to this part of Florida and would be found on the sand hill (ancient dune) where we live had humans never settled here. Considering how dry it has been the past decade across east central Florida, I'd think xeriscaping with cacti is a good conservation idea just about anywhere across the peninsula.
The prickly pears (Opuntia humifusa) below I also collected from a roadside where someone had tossed them. They are thriving on the southeast facing fence. The flowers are a delicacy for our native gopher tortoises. Late afternoons one will often see the vegetarian tortoises straining to reach the blooms. Unlike the Cereus spp. prickly pear blooms by day.
Before and After
Above, one of the Peruvian Apple Cacti by day doesn't look like much. After dark it explodes with blooms. In the daylight image one can see how sandy and dry it is atop this hill.
Holding the Sun
The Marineland Marina
I was using a solar filter when I made these images using a SLR camera. With an SLR what you see in the viewfinder is what comes out on the image so its easy to capture the sun, but not a good idea to look directly at the sun if you aren't using protective lenses. The SLRs viewfinder and mirror will reflect all that sunlight right back at your eyes.
The Matanzas River
at Washington Oaks State Park
just north of Matanzas Inlet
The Rocks
Exposed coquina rock formations just north of Matanzas Inlet and Marineland (south of St. Augustine) at Washington Oaks State Park.
Jon Snow is Alive!
Jon Snow is Angry!
Jon Snow is Naked!
So the country is being taken over by a demagogue, Europe is facing a refugee crisis, over-population is threatening much of Asia and Africa, oh. . . the Zika Virus is coming north. . .but what's really important is that as we suspected, Jon Snow is alive! Read how the top secret, two-year plan to kill Jon Snow—and then bring him back to life, evolved at:
Game of Thrones:
Inside the Top Secret, Two-Year Plan to Kill Jon Snow—and Bring Him Back to Life
. . . and he gave up the coat at the end of this week's episode, 'Oathbreaker' (Season 6: Episode 3)
A Review
A Review
A Review
We've Read:
Hillary may open the X-files, finally.