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The Amazon moonflower was in flower
Flower opening at 8-fold time lapse
Some days ago the particular cactus Strophocactus wittii (syn. Selenicereus wittii) was in flower. Unlike most of its relatives, it is not native to American deserts but to the widespread floodplain forests of the Amazon where it twines around the trunks of riparian trees. Its flattened leaf-like shoots attach to the bark with aerial roots. Occasionally the cactus gets inundated as it colonizes the trunks at floodwater levels. That's where the seeds float on the water as they contain air-filled chambers. The seeds develop after fertilization of the flowers by specialized night-active moths being able to penetrate the long flower funnel. Length and blooming habit of the white flowers indicate relationship with species being
known as queen of the night or moonlight cactus. The large, whitish, star-shaped flowers unfold during dusk for being open just the following night and closing forever during the upcoming dawn—be it with or without pollination. Due to its requirement of a tropical environment, the cactus can be encountered only scarcely in collections and some Botanical Gardens, and even more seldom with flowers being open as greenhouses would have to be open also during evening darkness. For more photographs and videos please refer to this page.
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Living diversity at Rostock University – Diversity makes you feel alive
Contact
Phone +49(0)381-498-6250 (Mo–Fr
7 am–3 pm)
botanischer.garten(at)uni-rostock.de
Visitor's Entrance
Hamburger Strasse/Holbeinplatz
Postal Address
Schwaansche Str. 2, 18055 Rostock
