Dutchman's pipe cactus

Appearance

Stems are erect, ascending, scandent, or sprawling and profusely branched. Primary stems are terete, up through 6 m long, flattened laterally, and ligneous at their bases. Secondary stems are flat, elliptic-acuminate, up through 30 cm x 10–12 cm. Stem margins are shallowly through deeply crenate and ± undulate.

Flowers are produced from flattened portions, are up through 30 cm long and 17 cm wide, nocturnal, and very fragrant. The principal odor component in the aroma is benzyl salicylate. Pericarpels are nude, slightly angled, and green. Bracteoles are short and narrow up through ca. 10 mm long. Receptacles are up through 20 cm long, 1 cm thick, brownish, and arching.

Outer tepals are linear, acute, 8–10 cm long, and reddish through amber. Inner tepals are whitish, oblanceolate through oblong, acuminate, up through 8–10 cm long and 2,5 cm wide. Stamens are greenish white or white, slender and weak. Styles are greenish white, pale yellow, or white, 4 mm thick, as long as inner tepals, and with many lobes. Fruit are oblong, up through 12 x 8 cm, purplish red, and angled.

Naming

"Oxypetalum" = with acute petalsIn India it is called Brahma Kamalam, named after the Hindu god of creation, Lord Brahma. It is believed that the wishes of people who pray to God while the flower is blooming will be fulfilled.

The Chinese chengyu 曇花一現 use this flower to describe someone who has an impressive but very brief moment of glory, like a "flash in a pan," since an "Epiphyllum oxypetalum" plant might bloom only once a year over a few days. Therefore, someone described as "曇花一現" is generally understood to be a person who shows off or unexpectedly gains some achievement and is thought to be an exception or only lucky. The flower also has a rich history in Japan, where it is known as the 月下美人 or "Beauty under the Moon". In Sri Lanka it is called "Kadupul" which means the flower from heaven. In Indonesia it is called "Wijaya Kusuma" which means "Flower of Triumph".