Selenicereus megalanthus

Selenicereus megalanthus
	Selenicereus megalanthus; flower
Systematics
Order :	Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family :	Cactus family (Cactaceae)
Subfamily :	Cactoideae
Tribe :	Hylocereeae
Genre :	Selenicereus
Type :	Selenicereus megalanthus
Scientific name
	Selenicereus megalanthus
	( K.Schum. Ex Vaupel ) Moran

Selenicereus megalanthus is a species of plant in the genus Selenicereus from the cactus family(Cactaceae).

description

Selenicereus megalanthus grows hanging epiphytic , is richly branched and reaches lengths of up to 13 meters. The dark green, triangular shoots are slightly wavy at the edges and not corked. They are 1.5 to 4 centimeters in diameter, 1 to 2 meters long and have aerial roots . From the areoles arise 1 to 3 awl, yellowish-brown and slightly curved spines , which are slightly thickened at the base and have a length between 3 and 5 millimeters.

The later strongly scented flowers are up to 30 centimeters long. Their bracts are strikingly wide. The outer bracts are light yellow, the inner white. The pericarpel is strongly tuberous and covered with scales, white wool and 14 to 15 bristle-like thorns per areole. The edible, yellow, egg-shaped fruits are up to 11 centimeters long and only have a few thorns. The flesh is white or pink in color.

Distribution and systematics

fruit

Shoot of Selenicereus megalanthus (with aerial roots)

Selenicereus megalanthus is distributed in Colombia , Ecuador , Peru and probably Bolivia at altitudes of 90 to 1800 meters. The first description as Cereus megalanthus was published in 1913 by Friedrich Karl Johann Vaupel . Reid Venable Moran placed them in the genus Selenicereus in 1953 . Some authors put the species as Hylocereus megalanthus in the genus Hylocereus .

use

Selenicereus megalanthus is increasingly being grown in plantations because of the edible fruits (which are traded as " pitahaya " or " dragon fruit ").

proof

literature

Edward F. Anderson : The Great Cactus Lexicon . Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4573-1 , p. 590 .

Individual evidence

^ Note sheet of the Royal Botanical Garden and Museum in Berlin . Volume 5, number 50, Leipzig 1913, pp. 284-285 (online) .
↑ Gentes Herbarum; Occasional Papers on the Kinds of Plants . Volume 8, 1953, p. 325.

Web links

Commons : Selenicereus megalanthus - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Note sheet of the Royal Botanical Garden and Museum in Berlin . Volume 5, number 50, Leipzig 1913, pp. 284-285 (online) .

[2] Gentes Herbarum; Occasional Papers on the Kinds of Plants . Volume 8, 1953, p. 325.