Green Skin Purple Flesh Variety. Native to Puerto Rico.
Selenicereus Trigonus is a terrestrial or epiphytic appearing shrubby cactus more or less scandent, with ascending and erect branches both at the base and above. 8It generally grows up to about 33ft. in height and 1.5 inches in diameter. The cactus bases of mature specimens are rounder and light gray-brown in appearance up to 2 inches wide. It has aerial roots. It is a much branched vine type sprawling and climbing cactus. It is no epiphytic, but roots on the ground and climbs from its ground base. It climbs on rocks, trees and bushes in dry forests.
The many jointed elongated stems, without leaves, are thin ribbed or thickly three angled, slender, green, strongly undulated marginally, not with areoles with spines borned at the tip of the undulations. The stems have 3 prominent ribs in separate stems, distinctly notched and with broadly rolling scalloped edges. Ribs of the young joints are thinner and appear pointed at the tip.
At the tip of the crenelated rolling scalloped edges, small brown-felted areoles bear 6-8 conical spines up to half Inch long, stiff, greenish when young, turning yellowish brown and brown as they mature, often with two accessory bristles. The spines are persistent. The cactus can appear vine-like in mature spread out specimens but requires support of other plants or small trees. It has been observed free standing to at least 5 ft
The combination of a large beautiful flower, short lifespan and large red exotic fruit makes viewing the flowering and fruiting of Hylocereus trigonnus a very special treat! Flowering and fruiting has been observed from July to November. Thus the solitary flower that only lasts one night is referenced as nocturnal with an extended early short diurnal period of flower opening. The flower emerges
from the obconic (about 2 Inches wide) perianth and opens at night from about 10 p.m. to about 10 a.m. This nocturnal flowering mechanism of the flower is a protective mechanism of the cactus against bird and animal predations of the flower.
The flower tube opens to a campanulate ovary crown corolla that also displays the outer
scatter scales of the elongated fleshy tepals around the flower crown. White flowers are solitary, hypanthium, pendulous, 6 inches long, borned auxiliary to the group of spines or terminal on the ribs ridges of the stem, often short spines in axils. Thedichlamydeous/heterochlamydeous perianth with small outer scatter scales, outer tepals are fleshy, yellowish green and ovate, the inner distal petals white, turning yellowish when mature or dry out.
Pollination is similar to most flowers it only requires that the pollen of the stamen be taken and placed on the stigma lobes of the pistil of the flower of the same species. As the flower is pollinated the function of the flowering half of the perianth has been performed completed and it proceeds to dry out into a brownish red thin straw like fashion. The fertilized ovary base of the perianth remains as it starts to mature the coming fruit. Bees and other insects provide the fertilization functions to the flower and ovary.
