When Art goes for his early morning runs, he often sees what he thought was night blooming cereus.
He saw some beautiful flowers as he ran past and stopped to take a photo. As the sun came up on his way home, he saw honey bees swarming over them so he took another photo.
That's when he noticed what looked like dragon fruit on the vines.
I looked up dragon fruit on the Internet and saw photos that seemed to show that night blooming cereus really did produce the dragon fruit.
However, when I researched it more carefully, I discovered that the Chinese night blooming cereus does not provide fruit.
A relative of the night blooming cereus is the pitahaya plant that produces the dragon fruit. They both bloom at night and fade in the sunlight.
There is the white flesh and red flesh type of fruit. Apparently, if you're going to grow it, it's a good idea to get both kinds of plants.
I got this from the Edible Landscape website.
When our grandson went with us to the farmers market, one of the vendors gave him a dragon fruit to try.
It turned out to be the red flesh type.
Actually, although it's supposed to have strong health benefits, there wasn't much flavor to it. The color is beautiful though and would probably look pretty in a salad.
Ah well... now we know that all those cactus like plants our neighbors are growing are not the night blooming cereus, but the pitahaya. You learn something new everyday.
POSTSCRIPT:
Art passed by the pitahaya plant a couple of weeks later and saw this.
I wonder how they prepare the fruit.
He saw some beautiful flowers as he ran past and stopped to take a photo. As the sun came up on his way home, he saw honey bees swarming over them so he took another photo.
That's when he noticed what looked like dragon fruit on the vines.
However, when I researched it more carefully, I discovered that the Chinese night blooming cereus does not provide fruit.
A relative of the night blooming cereus is the pitahaya plant that produces the dragon fruit. They both bloom at night and fade in the sunlight.
There is the white flesh and red flesh type of fruit. Apparently, if you're going to grow it, it's a good idea to get both kinds of plants.
I got this from the Edible Landscape website.
"It is also a good idea to get at least one each of the Hylocereus undatus and Hylocerus Polyrhizus (red flesh) so that cross pollination is possible."
When our grandson went with us to the farmers market, one of the vendors gave him a dragon fruit to try.
It turned out to be the red flesh type.
Actually, although it's supposed to have strong health benefits, there wasn't much flavor to it. The color is beautiful though and would probably look pretty in a salad.
Ah well... now we know that all those cactus like plants our neighbors are growing are not the night blooming cereus, but the pitahaya. You learn something new everyday.
POSTSCRIPT:
Art passed by the pitahaya plant a couple of weeks later and saw this.
I wonder how they prepare the fruit.
This is really interesting. Nothing like that here.
ReplyDeleteWow, I just knew about the flower of pitahaya.
ReplyDeleteI saw couples of cactus fruits and red dragon fruits in Mexican Market here. I had tried a bite red dragon fruit, and I don't like it. I prefer jack fruits.
Like the photos. I gotta laugh at your dragon fruit comment though. It just seems like everything that tastes good is bad for us; and anything that's good for us has no taste at all! Oh well...
ReplyDeleteI often wonder when i see exotic tropical fruit in the market how they taste but never brave enough to pay the expensive price to find out...
ReplyDeleteI've seen both red and white dragon fruit at the Asian market, but it costs too much for me to take a chance on it.
ReplyDeleteThe color would entice me to try the dragon fruit. You are right, it would look splendid in a salad.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking salad too. I love beet salads, so this might be a good solution here. Why not just be brave and go to the door to ask? :)
ReplyDeleteI do find dragon fruit bland.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a tropical beet. Interesting that it's bland. The bees were busy so early in the morning, and glad Art didn't get stung! (I learned that my hardy hibiscus open at 4 a.m. when I'd come home from working the night shift.) Are your relatives in Japan out of harm's way from the flooding? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking, DrumMajor. Yes, I texted my cousin and he said the rains were terrible in Sendai and Tokyo. However, the relatives are OK, much to our relief. Haven't heard yet about my uncle who lives in Tokyo yet. They do live near a river. Some friends in Tokyo texted back to say they were fine although trees along the banks were swept away. It's scary.
DeleteSuch tropical jewels. I really like the picture showing all the happy bees! :-)
ReplyDeleteI think its a neat looking fruit.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen the red flesh in a dragon fruit before. This is so interesting. Thank you Kay and thank Art for taking photos of those beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! How cool that that beautiful cactus flower produces such a dramatic fruit. Maybe it’s OK that it doesn’t taste like much. Just rowing it is cool enough.
ReplyDeleteAnd someone may tell us.
ReplyDeleteLovely things and interesting post k
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Dragon Fruit or Night Blooming Cereus before. Thanks for introducing it, Kay. These are really beautiful plants. Thanks for the introduction. LOVE the photos!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a wonderful week!