Cactus grandiflorus, a study

Abstract

The source of this extremely valuable remedy is that somewhat amazing plant Selenieus grandiflorus, the night-blooming Cereus. The plant grows wild in Jamaica as a creeper or as a climber. I t s succulent cylindrical stems of bluish green colour are armed with clusters of sharp spines. The curiously short-lived flowers burst forth from the tip of the stem at sundown and blooming through the night are withered by the next morning. These flowers are large, up to 10 inches in diameter; the petals are white, the lance-shaped sepals are brown on the outer surface and yellow on the inner side; the flowers exhale a quite strong odour redolent of vanilla. The fleshy fruit is egg-shaped, of vivid orange-red hue, and covered with scaly tubercles. The extremely small seeds have an acid taste. The plant contains a milky acrid juice. The Mother Tincture is prepared from the more tender stems and the flowers, collected in summer. Tartaric acid is one of the constituents of the plant.