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Selenicereus
Also called Moonlight Cacti, Dragon Fruits, Moonlight Cactuses
Selenicereus is a genus of climbing, epiphytic cacti with night-blooming white flowers, including the commonly grown moonlight cactus. Grow them as a bright, warm plant that can climb or trail, and give them a support or hanging space.
Selenicereus, from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē), meaning "moon", and Latin cēreus, meaning "candle", sometimes known as moonlight cactus, is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic, and terrestrial cacti, found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The term night-blooming cereus is also sometimes used, but this is also used for many night-blooming cacti, including Epiphyllum and Peniocereus. In 2017, the genus Hylocereus was brought into synonymy with Selenicereus. A number of species of Selenicereus produce fruit that is eaten. The fruit, known as pitaya or pitahaya in Spanish or as dragon fruit, may be collected from the wild or the plants may be cultivated.
The fruits of a number of species of Selenicereus (particularly those formerly placed in Hylocereus) are eaten. Selenicereus undatus and Selenicereus triangularis are widely cultivated in the Americas, Europe and Asia for their fruits, known as pitayas or pitahayas in Spanish, and as dragon fruits in Asia. The fruit of Selenicereus setaceus is eaten in South America.
Nightblooming cactus · Fishbone Cactus · Selenicereus costaricensis · Queen of the night · Selenicereus hamatus · Selenicereus megalanthus · Selenicereus setaceus · Vine-like moonlight cactus · Nightblooming Cactus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Selenicereus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
