All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

Nyctocereus serpentinus is a popular slender columnar cactus that with height will fall over and snake around. The crested form stay smaller and forms pronounced sculpture effects.
 

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Scientific name:  Nyctocereus serpentinus Lagasca & J.D.Rodríguez
In: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12:423. 1909

Origin: Tropical areas of southern Mexico (México, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca), but now largely spread around Mexico. The crested form is of garden origin (Nursery produced cultivar)

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.

Common English Names include: Snake cactus, Night-blooming cereus, Queen of the night (In Mexico it is know as Junco Espinoso, Reina de la Noche)

Synonyms:

• Peniocereus serpentinus (Lagasca & J.D.Rodríguez) N.P.Taylor 1987
• Cereus splendens
• Nyctocereus castellanosii
• Cereus ambiguus
• Cactus ambiguus
• Echinocereus serpentinus
• Cactus serpentinus
• Cereus serpentinus

Description: The typical Nyctocereus serpentinus is a fast-growing slender, shrubby columnar cacti from that grows often in groups, erect at first sometimes climbing then leaning and sprawling all over and best tied to something so it wont fall and grow decumbent. It would be good for hanging baskets.
Crested form: The crested form are cultivated for their beautiful stem with long bristly dark brown-red spine and pronounced sculpture effects. These plants produce monstrous crests, and crests occasionally produce normal shoots.
Stem: Slender, snake-like, dark coloured, cylindrical, 3-6 meters long, 2,5-5 cm in diameter.
Root: Large tuberose
Ribs: 10-17 obtuse.
Areoles: Whitish white wool
Spines: 9 to 14 needle-like spines, whitish to reddish when young, with darker tips, 10-30mm long.
Flowers: When old enough it bears large, nocturnal flowers, they are funnelform, white with pinkish outside segments, 15 to 20cm long (15 cm in diameter), pericarpel and flowers with bristles. The flowers are very fragrant, like gardenias.
Fruit: 4-6 cm long, red, egg-shaped, edible, spiny, with spines that fall when it is ripe.
Seeds: Black 5 mm. Long.
 

Cultivation: Produces best results in loose and very drained soil, rich in leaf-mould, and if sufficient water is supplied in warm weather a rather considerable growth can be made. It needs bright shade to partial sun. The plants will stand but little cold and require a minimum winter temperature of about 10° C. (but can resist for short period to 0° C). Growth is rapid, and supports are needed for the stems. The half‑erect habit of the moderately tall plants makes them desirable for middle foreground position in landscap­ing, while the comparatively small room needed for potted plants makes it an acceptable group for greenhouse culture.
Propagation: By grafting or (sometime) by cuttings.

USES:
 -  In Mexico it is one of the most widely cultivated species for the beauty of its white flowers that open at night
 - Grown in Mexico (Sonora), California and Chile for its fruit.
 - Sometime used as a strong and fast growing grafting stock.

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.