Plants in Israel | Selenicus grandifloras
Selenicus grandifloras, Cereus grandiflorus, Selenicereus macdonaldiae, Night-blooming cereus, Queen of the night, Deer-Horn Cactus,
מלכת הלילה
| Scientific name: | Selenicus grandifloras (L.) Britton & Rose | |
| Synonym name: | Cereus grandiflorus (L.) Mill., Selenicereus macdonaldiae (Hook.) Britton & Rose | |
| Common name: | Night-blooming cereus, Queen of the night, Deer-Horn Cactus | |
| Hebrew name: | מלכת הלילה | |
| Family: | Cactaceae, צבריים או קקטוּסיים |
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| Life form: | Climbing multibranched perennial cactus | |
| Stems: | Scandent, elongated, to 10 m long, 2-2.5cm in diameter, ribbed or angled, weak, studded with sparse spines, branching occasionally; producing aerial roots | |
| Leaves: | No leaves | |
| Inflorescence: | Terminal and lateral flowers up to 30cm in diameter come out from the clusters of spines; flowers bloom for only one night | |
| Flowers: | Thin yellow sepals, white petals waxy, trumpet-shaped flowers | |
| Fruits / pods: | ovoid, 5–8 cm long, whitish, partly pink, pink, yellow or orange, covered with clusters of spines and hairs which soon drop off | |
| Origin: | Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of southern Arizona, east to western Texas and south to northern Mexico. |
 Derivation of the botanical name: Selenicus, Greek Σελήνη, Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, since their flowers open at night.
Selenicereus, Greek Σελήνη, Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, cereus(Latin), “waxy”, a night-blooming cereus.
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