I didn't miss the 2nd bloom on probably Epiphyllum hookeri subsp. hookeri

Beautiful bloom! You didn't tell us how late you had to stay up to see it!

Epiphyllum hookeri subsp. hookeri
Donald, I love your bloom! I think though that it is not Oxapetulm, but rather Hookeri. Here is a photo of my Oxapetulm. Notice the difference in the size of the flower petals.

@SALL20 Good call! You're right. I didn't open the photo up this morning. The stems are different also. I noticed the color around the edges of the stems looked reddish. I thought it might have been because of drier conditions in needrain's area.

Thanks Sondra. I'll change my info. It still has the label sent and I'm not familiar enough with the family to even be suspicious. I'll edit the post.

I didn't stay up, but I got up at 5 a.m. and went out in pajamas and boots with a flashlight hoping there weren't any copperheads or rattlesnakes between me and the plant . I went and got my camera, but the first set of photos weren't very good and my camera battery died and had to be recharged. This photo was taken at about 6:50 a.m. and the sky was beginning to get light. I looked again just before it came above the horizon and the bloom was already beginning to collapse. At just a bit after 10 p.m. last night, it wasn't doing anything. I wasn't sure it would even bloom.

That's not one I sent, was it?

Donald - I have no doubt that you have a hookeri, she says with uncertainty. Looks just like the ones I posted in the database. I did think mine was going to be an oxyp until it bloomed.

Years ago I lived in Austin and grew a lot of oxyp's. Was new to them and just kept potting new starts. Anyway, my NDH was in charge. We could pretty much tell when a bloom would open. So he would put a ladder up next to the plant and at the appointed time, almost always right around midnight, we - well usually me - could be up close and personal as a bloom would open and the perfume would fill the air. It was so wonderful. After awhile we got to where we would have small parties. And b/c we lived quite close to the U of TX there usually would be a student or 2 or 3 passing by and join us. The blooms were gone by 7 a.m. Back then we only knew the name as 'Night Blooming Cereus' altho I now know we had Oxyp's. Heck. What's in a name.

Sondra - gorgeous bloom you got there.

Bubbles said:That's not one I sent, was it?

Yes. There were several sections. Is there a possibility the sections came off different Epiphyllum clones?

Great story, Joan. Enough years ago and I might have been one of those students passing by, but I'm sure you're not that old . The one my grandmother grew was simply called 'Midnight Cereus' and cereus was pronounced as 'Cyrus'. It was huge - probably reaching 6' or more - but rarely bloomed. She cut the blooms off and put them in the refrigerator and I think that preserved the blooms for a longer time. My recollection is they had a thinner, more sparkler type shape, like the one that bloomed here. That was back in the dark ages, though, so my memory may be faulty. I couldn't detect any fragrance, but maybe if I'd caught it shortly after it opened it might have had some then.

Sadly, one of the three new buds on my Oxypetalum dried up, but the other two are still going strong. I think it will be at least another week before they open.

needrain said:
Yes. There were several sections. Is there a possibility the sections came off different Epiphyllum clones?

I will check in the morning. It's dark now. I have some different small cacti. That Epi, though, has always had very smooth stems. (autocorrect changed "stems" to "ATMs" to further confuse). So sorry for confusion on I.D.

Bubbles said:

I will check in the morning. It's dark now. I have some different small cacti. That Epi, though, has always had very smooth stems. (autocorrect changed "stems" to "ATMs" to further confuse). So sorry for confusion on I.D.

You may need to give me a photo tutorial here. I'm not sure what you mean by 'smooth stems'. Are you referring to the sort of scalloped look on the edges? Seems like the 'stem' is in the center of those leafy type pads and not a stem like I think of. I've been looking at it and the ric rac orchid this week and thinking if the Epi just had little thorns at those scallops, there growth habit would be very much the same. I should whisper that very quietly because the botanists may see it and change the official classification of one or the other or both .

Of course, I will send photo"

Donald - I just might be older than anyone could imagine. Anyway, since you liked my story I'm going to tell you the beginning. (Bypass it if you like. I won't know.)

One day I'm driving home from somewhere. Austin was much smaller than so I'm kinda driving thru some older neighborhoods. I noticed an old geezer gentleman trying to have a plant sale with what appeared to be very little luck. Well I had to stop b/c who doesn't love a plant sale?

Didn't even see a darned thing I liked. So the gentleman hands me a small little plant in a 4" pot, says he thinks I'll like it and it blooms at night and smells real nice. So what the heck. For a dollar or so I figure I'll make him happy and I buy it. Take it home and told my NDH about it.

Year or 2 goes by and we have one monster of a plant and full of blooms. So the moral to this and most of my stories is 'ya just never know'.

Okay, today was another tree trimmer guesstimate morning (the 4th one). Ugh, (but we liked him best). I went out early and took photos of the Oxy, and then noticed one that looked like yours, @needrain. It was growing in a small pot on a plant shelf. Then I saw it in another pot of Oxy, and another. Seems the Epi can root from the ends of its stems. I have both growing in more than one pot. It laddered itself down to all on the plant shelves. So I took photos, downloaded them to computer. Went back to where camera photos were to delete. I then hit the button and deleted everything in Sept. Are you still awake??? DH calmed me down and recovered all pics from recycle bin.

Here goes the pics:

A partial view of the big Oxy under the tree



What has now been IDd as an Epi. It is right above the Oxy



How some of them "co-mingled: without permission


Here too....you can see the Epi pot right above the Oxy


Roots coming off end of stem of Epi (hussy)

So yes, I did send the wrongly IDd plant. Not intentionally, tho. They do look quite a bit alike.

And as my old French grandmother always said, "No good deed goes unpunished."

I think the leaf structure in the photos that is the clearest is in the 4th photo. On the left side of the photo, that long structure growing out in front of the window has a scalloped edge very much like mine. Your Oxy is on the shelf below that on the right bottom, correct? The leaf structure there looks wide and with less pronounced scalloped edging. So if I've got that right, does that mean you are likely growing probably Epiphyllum hookeri subsp. hookeri? Have those not bloomed for you? They look better and more mature as plants than mine.

Dang, but those are gangly, awkward plants, aren't they?

No, the Oxy is directly below the Epi on the left of that photo. Best photo of leaf structure for Oxy is the first one. The stems are flat with very little, if any scalloping. Where the scallop indenture would be, there are smaller stems at those intersections. Each of those stems is capable of rooting.

The ease of rooting them has become the problem. I trip over the big Oxy under the tree. Pieces break off and I stick them into a pot. They root. If I leave a piece on the ground, it roots there. They are more like a weed except for those few nights when they bloom so beautifully.

Um, love the pictures and the chat but y'all have me confused when you use the word 'epi'. Both the Oxy and the Hooker are epis. @Bubbles, could you maybe ID by the color of the pot. I might be able to follow along better.
Also, I'm curious about whatcha got there on the top shelf. And curious about the pot - wait - what's in the pot with the yellow rim on the 2nd shelf.

I haven't tried it yet but if need be, here's something handy to know: you can lay an epi cutting just flat (horizontal) on top of potting medium and it will root and grow. You can have a cutting upside down (these things can happen) in the 'pot' and it will still root and grow. Caveat is that I've learned this from people who mostly grow the day blooming epis but would imagine it works for the night bloomers too.

It's not unusual for the edges to be red. Will double check but think it means a little too much sun or something like that. Here's a picture of E. Bolero that has some red on it. This is growing from a single cutting sent to me from someone in Sweden. The cutting is in the middle and if you squint you can see Bolero written on it. And yes, there are some puny 'branches' but in time they will fatten up. I really need to pot it up again. They like being root bound but there is a limit.



A couple of other day blooming epis from Sweden:

This is E. Oriental Dancer



and this is E. Shangi La in a purple pot in a pot in a pot (to hold it up on windy days or just cuz. don't remember.) Whatever. It's definitely time to pot this one up.




If I didn't ignore and abuse these guys or gals so much I probably would have some blooms by now. And I can't wait to see them. I've forgotten what their colors are. Guess I could find a link or 2 or 3. Just don't tell anyone that I'm not using the correct naming conventions.

Anyway, all of these are epis. (Spellcheck likes to call them 'epic' when my back is turned. Like ATM.) Thus my confusion.

Dang but I can ramble on and on. Sorry to be such a chatty cathy. Think I need some ice cream.

I'm not ignoring this thread. Just got home from lake, been gone all day.

I'll try to get better photos in the morning. As for the plant IDs on the shelf. I don't think I can offer much. There's a nursery in Seguin that doesn't ID most of their plants past "bromeliad" or "cactus," etc. I love to go there for early spring plants and wind up buying things that are different or unusual. Most of the small pots are $3. Their hanging baskets can be around $35. to $55. and up, but they are lush with ferns, broms, and just stuff. Anyway, I'll try to take pics in morning.

@Bubbles - no worries. I was just nosey curious.
Love bromeliads. They're all so strange and exotic. Grew a lot of them with my NDXH. We'd pot up all the pups. Once we had a plant sale - mostly those little pups and a few other small pots of this and that. Low, low prices. We just needed to get rid of all those bromeliads we had started. Raked in $435. Couldn't believe it! Of course it didn't hurt being on one of the paths to UT.
Bet it's fine weather to be at the lake. Or hippie hollow.