Re: Dragon fruit by other names
- To: William Glover
- Subject: Re: Dragon fruit by other names
- From: M* F*
- Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 09:10:31 -1000 (HST)
I got to taste the ones in Hawaii. They do taste a bit like kiwi. Smae
texture with all the little seeds. It doesn't form fruit here in hawaii
frequently as the flowere bloom at night and look to be bat or large moth
pollinated. We have one native bat and it is an insect eater and large
moths are not plentiful. WE call it "night blooming cereus". It does
grow wild here and ther are hillsides covered witht he stuff in Honolulu,
Maui, etc. Can't send cuttings out as it is a cactus and thus a
restricted itemp by USDA /PPQ. Seems that a biological control agent for
Opuntia may use otehr cactus as hosts and beable to hitchhike out of the
state and cause problems for the continental US.
MTF
On Sat, 3 Mar 2001, William Glover wrote:
> On 3/02/01 8:45 PM Sean A. O'Hara (sean.ohara@groupmail.com) wrote:
>
>
> >Elizabeth is completely right! Of course you can grow it from the seeds.
>
>
> Hylocereus undatus can be grown from seeds, but it is much easier to
> start from a cutting and is widely available from cactus dealers as it is
> commonly used as grafting stock for cacti that are difficult to grow on
> their own roots. Those red and yellow Japanese 'golf balls on a stick'
> seen so
> frequently are such cacti growing on H. undatus stock.
>
> But H. undatus requires strong light and heat to grow, and it grows
> and grows and grows - the individual stems can reach 20 feet (6 m) -
> before it will fruit. I have several hundred yards of many plants - no
> exaggeration; there is a hedge of this plant in Honolulu a half-mile
> long - growing atop my stone walls but find the fruit, along with many
> tropical fruits - rather insipid. So does everyone else on this island,
> all of whom far prefer mangoes, pineapples, and papayas. The monkeys
> are fond of them, however, and are welcome to all.
>
> I grow the plant, which needs no care or fertilization, for its
> spectacular
> flowers - up to ten inches across - that open over a few nights every
> month from May through October. Don't believe it will stand much
> if any cold, and it does need a great deal of room, so not the best
> plant for Med gardens, or indoors except in a large greenhouse.
>
> 'Dragon Fruit' must be a new marketing name as an older, if less
> exciting name is 'Strawberry Pear.' In Mexico it has long been known
> as pitahaya roja or pitahaya blanca, as there are red and yellow varieties
> of the fruit.
>
> Oddly enough, H. undatus first became known to science from a plant
> collected in China. It is now pan-tropical but its origin is thought to be
> in the West Indies, perhaps in Martinique. My most vigorous plants
> descend from a cutting collected at Mombasa, Kenya.
>
> If someone will remind me where digital snaps can be put up for viewing,
> I'll be glad to do so to show how large this plant grows and how lovely
> the flowers. Or I can send them directly to anyone who wants a look.
>
>
> William Glover
> Nevis, West Indies
>
