Night-Time Flowers Fish Bone, Zigzag Cactus

The festive season is almost here and this week I have enjoyed watching my succulent which blooms at night with a stunning flower, that only last one night. So far there have been two flowers and there appears to be a couple more that are also very close to opening.

This week I looked back at some photos from December 2022 when I first took images of my flowering pot plant. These flowers were blooming the week before Christmas, and they were beautiful, as they unfold just before sunset and open wide folding the petals back and later in the night the flower slowly folds up again before the sunrise.

At first, I thought this succulent was called the “Queen of the Night”, as it only flowers for one night then the bloom dies. I google for photos of the flowers and learnt my plant was named Selenicereus anthocyanins or common names, Fish Bone Cactus or Zig-Zag , St. Anthony's rickrack, and is sometimes referred to as an orchid cactus. This species is named after Harold E. Anthony who first found this plant flowering species in June 1950.

The first year my plant flowered there were four flowers bloom on different nights, and it was exciting watching the bud appear and prepare to bloom, it reminded me of an asparagus

head, but larger in size. I took photos of as the buds formed and on the flowering nights the bub would start to open before sunset and the first few hours were amazing as the flower opened out and the delicate pretty centre was opened. Just after the sunset the aroma was lovely, and I am sure it attracted insects during the night to pollinate the flower. During the night I checked on the flower and around midnight the petals stood upwards and by sunrise the flower was closing up and the blooming was over, never to open again.

In December 2022 I set up a time-lapse of the flower and it was exciting to watch the flower open, the beauty of nature, I felt like I was watching a nature program. The time-lapse took

thousands of photos over 10 hours and once processed it took only minutes to watch. The time-lapse data was large, so I cannot share on social media or Facebook.

Attached are a few photos of this lovely flower. I have read that the plants can last for generations, I bought my plant from a garage sale a few years ago, so hopefully I can continue to care for my plant, and it will continue to surprise me with beautiful December night-time flowers.

I read a few internet links and learnt the Selenicereus anthonyanus is a cactus species which is endemic to moist lowland rainforest of southern Mexico. It is grown as an ornamental because of its nocturnal flowers and unusual, leaf-like stems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenicereus_anthonyanus

Description

• l The stems of the plant are ascending or climbing. Its branches are in clusters at intervals along the stem, to 1 m long or more, 7–15 cm wide, flat with few aerial roots; the lobes are 25–45 mm long and 10–16 mm wide, somewhat tapered towards the rounded apex; areoles are small; epidermis is green to yellowish green, smooth. The edges are deeply lobed.

• l The fragrant flowers are 10 to 12 centimetres long and 15 to 17 centimetres in diameter. The outer bracts are purple and spread out until they are bent back. The inner bracts are ascending, cream-colored and yellow towards the flower throat. The seed vessel is 15–20 mm long and green in colour. The pericarpel is covered with numerous small scales with gray wool, bristles and thorns.

• l The fruits are round or oval and up to 6 cm. They are full of thorny areolae, which drop off as they mature. Seeds are 2 x 1.5 mm, black in colour.

If you would like to read more check out the internet for images and information.

Here are a few of my flower photographs for the readers to enjoy.

Betty Matthews

6 December 2024