Queen-of-the-Night

Cereus jamacaru

"Cereus jamacaru", known as mandacaru or cardeiro, is a cactus native to central and eastern Brazil. It often grows up to 6 metres high. A thorn-less kind is used for animal feed. The most common kind is highly thorny but is also used for animal feed, after burning or cutting off the thorns. Mandacaru is highly drought-resistant.
Cereus jamacaru This was introduced to the Pantanal to provide forage for cattle.  It is invasive.  Sometimes known as "Queen of the Knight" because of the way its flowers stand out. Cereus jamacaru,Mato Grosso,Pantanal,Transpantaneira highway

Appearance

The flowers are white and about 250 mm long. The flower buds usually appear in the middle of spring and each flower lasts only for a night. They blossom at dusk and wither by the morning. Its fruit has a very strong violet color. The pulp is white with tiny black seeds, and it is considered very tasty. Many birds feed on them, like the "gralha-cancã" and the "periquito-da-caatinga" from Brazilian caatinga.

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Status: Least concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderCaryophyllales
FamilyCactaceae
GenusCereus
SpeciesC. jamacaru
Photographed in
Brazil