Description

Orchid Cactus is a species of cactus. Orchid Cactus rarely blooms and only at night, and its flowers wilt before dawn. Though it is sometimes referred to as a night-blooming cerus, it is not closely related to any of the species in the tribe Cereeae, such as Selenicereus, that are more commonly known as nightblooming cereus. All Cereus species bloom at night and are terrestrial plants; Epiphyllum species are usually epiphytic.

Characteristics:

Orchid cactus blooms at night, since the flowers are predominantly pollinated by bats and large moths. They have large white star-like flowers to help their pollinators locate the blossoms by moon or star light, and many have very lovely fragrances. Pure white flowers, the size of a dinner plate, open as soon as the sun goes down and stay open all night, closing in the morning. It is a shrub growing on trees, freely branched, 2-6 m tall, with aerial roots. Old stems and basal extension shoots round, to 2 m or more, woody; branches numerous, dark green, laterally flattened, leaflike, lanceshaped to oblong-lanceshaped, 15-100 × 5-12 cm, hairless, base wedge-shaped, narrowed, or stalked, margin wavy to deeply rounded toothed, tip pointed to tapering; midrib 2-6 mm wide, stout. Areoles small, spineless. Flowers nocturnal, fragrant, funnel-shaped, 25-30 × 10-27 cm. Receptacle tube 13-18 cm, base green, 4-9 mm in diameter, slightly angled, with triangular to lanceshaped scales 3-10 mm. Sepaloids often recurved, pale green or pinkish red, linear to inverted-lanceshaped. Petaloids white, inverted-lanceshaped to obovate, 7-10 × 3-4.5 cm. Filaments white, 2.5-5 mm; anthers cream, 3-3.5 mm. Style white, 20-22 cm; stigmas 15-20, cream, narrowly linear, 1.6-1.8 mm. Fruit rare, purplish red, oblong, about 16 × 5.7 cm. Seed 2-2.5 × about 1.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Oct.

Medicinal Uses:

Orchid cactus(Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is an easily cultivated, fast growing Epiphyllum. It flowers in late spring through late summer; large specimens can produce several crops of flowers in one season. This is a commonly grown Epiphyllum species. Orchid cactus is known to have medicinal property in many Asian cultures, including India, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The plant is widely used in traditional medicine setting to treat respiratory ailments, bleeding conditions and is also believed to have the property of reducing pain and inflammation.