Peniocereus greggii – Nightblooming Cereus

Peniocereus greggii - Nightblooming Cereus, Night Blooming Cereus, Desert Night-blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night (flower)

Peniocereus greggii - Nightblooming Cereus, Night Blooming Cereus, Desert Night-blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Peniocereus greggii

Synonym: Cereus greggii

Common Names: Nightblooming Cereus, Night Blooming Cereus, Desert Night-blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Shrub, Cactus

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert. It is typically found growing under desert shrubs.

Flower Color: White

Flowering Season: Summer. These cacti bloom spectacularly for a short, somewhat unpredictable period of time in June or July. These were photographed on the Fourth of July.

Height: To 7 feet (2.1 m) tall

Description: The showy flowers are nocturnal and only open for one night. The individual flowers are up to 4 1/2 inches (11 cm) across and have shining white, cream, or pinkish inner tepals, greenish white outer tepals with a brownish midstripe, white anther filaments, and a white style. The flowers are followed by light to dark red, elliptical, 3 inch (7.6 cm) long fruit. The stems are long, slender, dull green or brownish in color, and have 4 to 6 ribs with flattened, downward-projecting spines. These drab, stick-like cacti can be very difficult to spot unless blooming or fruiting.

Special Characteristics

Fragrant – The flowers are not only amazingly beautiful, they are also wonderfully fragrant at night.

Legal StatusProtected Native Plant (Peniocereus greggii var. greggii and P. greggii var. transmontanus are Salvage Restricted)

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae – Cactus family
Genus: Peniocereus (A. Berger) Britton & Rose – peniocereus
Species: Peniocereus greggii (Engelm.) Britton & Rose – nightblooming cereus

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map