What is the difference between the night-blooming cereus and the queen of the night?
Both belonging to the cactus family, the night-blooming cereus and the queen of the night are widely cultivated in various places. And their similar appearance always makes it hard to tell them apart, so where is the difference between them?
1. Where is the difference between the night-blooming cereus and the queen of the night?
1. Morphology
The night-blooming cereus is an epiphytic succulent shrub plant, 2-6 m tall, with old stems cylindrical and woody. The leaf-like branches are flattened, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate; the flowers are solitary in the small areoles on the sides of the branches, funnel-shaped, opening at night, fragrant; the sepal-like tepals are greenish-white, pale amber or tinged with red, linear to oblanceolate, the petal-like tepals are white, obovate-lanceolate to obovate; the filaments are white, the anthers pale yellow, the style white, and the berry is purplish-red.
The queen of the night is a perennial succulent herbaceous climbing plant, with aerial roots growing from the above-ground stem and climbing upward; the stem is dark green and succulent, with 3 triangular angled ridges, the ridge edges wavy, and the flowers are especially large, funnel-shaped and yellow-green.
2. Growing environment
The night-blooming cereus prefers a warm, humid, semi-shaded, warm and moist environment, is not tolerant of frost, and avoids strong direct sunlight.
The queen of the night prefers warmth and warm air. It is suited to semi-shade, and the plant turns yellow under direct strong sunlight. The optimum growing temperature is 25-35°C. It is sensitive to low temperatures, and below 5°C the stem segments are prone to rot.
3. Flowering period
The flowering period of the night-blooming cereus is generally from June to October. The flowers of the night-blooming cereus are large and beautiful when open, do not bloom during the day, and only open after eight or nine o'clock at night, withering 3-4 hours after blooming.
The flowering period of the queen of the night is longer, generally blooming from May to November each year, with the peak period from June to September, and 7-8 batches of flowers in a year. The flowers open at night.