5:24 pm
Bud is so plump that it is obvious that it will open this same evening.
6:36 pm
After two hours of photography every 5 to 10 minutes, the flower finally begins to open more dramatically.
6:46 pm
7:21 pm
The flower at 7:44 pm, about 98% open.
7:51 pmm
Selenicereus testudo is the most common arboreal cactus plant at Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo. In all the diverse eco-systems we have, so far, not located one single solitary terrestrial cactus plant: not even any Opuntia. So there are scores of native terrestrial cacti species in the Rio Motagua dry zone and the Rio Sacapulas dry zones of Guatemala. But zero in Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo (however if we or anyone else finds a wild terrestrial cactus plant, we will be glad to revise this conclusion).
Selenicereus testudo is easy to find among the Mayan ruins of Yaxha, Topoxte Island, Nakum, and Naranjo. Its roots do not need to be in the ground.
The flowers we find at Yaxha are very very similar to Hylocereus costaricensis, but that other Pitaya is native to the southern part of Central America (Costa Rica and Nicaragua).
We will present the series of scores of time-lapse photos in a PDF format by next week. In the meantime, here are three photos showing the first, middle, and final phase of opening of this night-blooming tree cactus.
Posted Nov 9, 2018
