| Selenicereus hamatus | |
|---|---|
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| Photo: Mary Crowell | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Selenicereus |
| Species: | S. hamatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Selenicereus hamatus (Scheidweiler) Britton & Rose | |
| Synonyms | |
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Selenicereus hamatus is a species of Cactaceae and produces one of the largest flowers in the family. It is a cultivated ornamental vine. The species is native to Mexico.
Hamatus (Latin) means "hooked", and refers to the curiously hooked stems.
Scheidweiler thought that this species originally came from Mexico, which is probably correct. Still, no evidently wild plant has been found. Although it is a quite common species, not much is known about its history.
The plant's origin in south and east Mexico. It is only known in cultivation.
S. hamatus is a distinct species, distantly related to the grandiflorus-complex. Selenicereus radicans (DC.) A. Berger seems to belong here, but it is impossible to know for sure as the original description is brief and no type seems to exist. The publication of Cereus radicans predates C. hamatus.
This is an easily cultivated, fast growing plant. It needs a compost containing plenty of humus and sufficient moisture in summer. Should not be kept under 10 °C (50 °F) in winter. It can be grown in semi-shade or in full sun. Extra light in the early spring will stimulate budding. Only mature plants produce flowers. It makes an excellent pendent plant.
Stems scandent, clambering or sprawling, branching, producing few aerial roots, very vigorous, to 5–12 m long or more, often growing 2 m or more in a season, 16–22 mm thick; ribs 4 or rarely 3-5, strong, later terete, acute; areoles small, brownish or black, remote, on the upper edges of knubby projections, these often forming obtuse, deflexed spurs about 1 cm long, internodes 4–5 cm; spines 5-6, ca 5 mm long, whitish, bristle like, 1-3 lower or central spines usually brown or black; epidermis glossy grass or light green. Flowers produced one by one over a longer period than most other species, born sparingly near tips of mature stems, 30–40 cm long, 20–30 cm in Ø, [1] nocturnal and strongly scented with an aromatic fragrance, tepals rotate, inner ones forming a broad cup; pericarpel oval, knobby, ca 4 cm thick, covered with white spines and brown or black hairs, bracteoles green with white tips.; receptacle ca 10–14 cm long, green, purplish towards the apex, ca 22 mm in Ø, its areoles with short, retuse, 1–12 mm long bracteoles, long black hairs and spines, upper bracteoles longer, the uppermost tipped purple; outer tepals 15 cm long, in 4 series, the outermost more narrow, reddish purple outside, chrome yellow inside, innermost broader, to 2 cm, acute to acuminate, greenish yellow outside, chrome yellow inside; inner tepals 12 cm, in 3 series, very broad, retuse, mucronate, white; stamens creamy white, anthers yellow; style thick, longer than the stamens, yellowish, lobes 15-18. Fruit oval, 10x8 cm, green or yellow, covered densely with yellowish spines, 2,5 cm long.
Schlumbergera truncata, the false Christmas cactus, is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is endemic to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist forests. It is the parent or one of the parents of the houseplants called Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus or zygocactus, among other names.
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Disocactus phyllanthoides, the nopalxochitl or German empress, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae. It is commonly grown as an ornamental houseplant. It is one of the three major species involved in creating the widely grown epiphyllum hybrids or "epis". The others are Disocactus speciosus and Disocactus crenatus.
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Selenicereus megalanthus, synonym Hylocereus megalanthus, is a cactus species in the genus Selenicereus that is native to northern South America, where it is known, along with its fruit, by the name of pitahaya. The species is grown commercially for its yellow fruit, but is also an impressive ornamental climbing vine with perhaps the largest flowers of all cacti.
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Selenicereus grandiflorus is a cactus species originating from the Antilles, Mexico and Central America. The species is commonly referred to as queen of the night, night-blooming cereus, large-flowered cactus, sweet-scented cactus or vanilla cactus. The true species is extremely rare in cultivation. Most of the plants under this name belong to other species or hybrids. It is often confused with the genus Epiphyllum.
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Echinocereus stramineus is a species of cactus in which stramineus means made of straw. There are various common names such as strawberry cactus, porcupine hedgehog cactus, straw-color hedgehog, and pitaya. The straw-colored spines make this particular plant distinguished from other Echinocereus. The aged spines may turn to white color and are very fragile.
Proatriplex is a monotypic plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae, with the only species Proatriplex pleiantha. It is known by the common names four-corners orach and Mancos shadscale. It occurs in the Navajo Basin of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
Strophocactus wittii, synonym Selenicereus wittii, known as the Amazon moonflower, is a species of plant in the genus Strophocactus in the cactus family (Cactaceae), and is one of several species commonly called "moonflowers". It was first described in 1900 and is one of three species of cactus found in the central Amazon basin.
Deamia montalvoae is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. It was first described in 2018. It climbs or hangs from trees or rocks, and has large funnel-shaped flowers, mostly white, and pale red fruit, covered with bristles and hairs.
Wachendorfia brachyandra is a small to large, 10–65 cm (3.9–25.6 in) high, winter-growing, perennial herbaceous plant that grows from a rootstock, and has been assigned to the bloodroot family. Its simple, entire, line- to lance-shaped leaves that are usually shorter than the stem, and have pleated, laterally flattened leaf blades af about 35 mm (1.4 in) wide, meaning that there are left and right surfaces rather than upper and lower. The inflorescence is a lax panicle and at the base of each flowerstalk is a dry, brown and papery bract, and those higher in the panicle have a recurved tip. The mirror-symmetrical pale apricot-yellow flowers consist of six tepals and are adorned with brown markings on the upper three tepals. There are three anthers that are clustered and about half as long as the tepals. Each individual flower only lasts one day. Flowering occurs from August to December. This species grows in the wild in the Western Cape province of South Africa only, and is much less common than its relatives W. paniculata and W. thyrsiflora. It is sometimes called short-stamen butterfly-lily in English.
Media related to Selenicereus hamatus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Selenicereus hamatus at Wikispecies