Help identifying

[Slomo]

Hello to the group and thank you in advance for your assistance. Total newbie here. Just your average person with a few houseplants. We have a friend who is not good with plants give us what she said she though was an orchid three years ago. It’s grown quite big and we’re interested in learning more about what it might be. It live in our bathroom and gets go sun throughout the day. Any ideas?

[Roberta]

Welcome.
Not an orchid... 2nd photo, I'd say likely an Epiphyllum. Great big but short-lived flowers.

[realoldbeachbum]

Hello Slo! Welcome to the OB.

I am NOT A PLANT EXPERT but I have a plant that looks very much like that foliage, and I am told it is a Night Blooming Cereus Peruvianus. This is according to a friend who gifted me one LEAF several years ago. It blooms here in North AL in August and only at NIGHT. Interesting plant.

[Slomo]

Hi all, thank you so much for your thoughts, and my apologies that the first round of pictures came in upside down. Not sure why that happened. Couple more pictures here. It is a night bloomer, so we’ve never seen the flower opened. Seems to be just one night and then done.

[Roberta]

The upside-down and sideways display of photos is a "feature" of the old software that the Orchid Board utilizes. The way around that is to download to PC, open file in an editor, make minor changes, or do a "save as" , both of which reset the "orientation" metadata of photos.

If it blooms only at night, then realoldbeachbum's guess of Night-blooming Cereus is very likely. Like Epiphylum, related to cactus. If it has a bud that looks like it is ready to open, worth staying up late for - flowers are spectacular, but they are "one and done".

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

This cactus is probably Epiphyllum oxypetalum or Epiphyllum phyllanthus. You would need to look at the flowers to be sure. The flat parts are stems. It doesn't have leaves.

[Fuerte Rav]

This was a rescue from the bins - I stuck it in a basket under a tree and forgot about it. It was the colour of the bloom that reminded me I had something there!




I also have a white/cream one that lives in the porch



On both colour plants the blooms have opened at night but lasted for 2 - 3 days, unlike my Pitahaya (dragon fruit) where the bloom dies as the sun gets on it in the morning.

Slomo - you have taken on a really forgiving plant with the most amazing blooms! They are so easy to propagate as well. I'm about to chop up all the tatty leaves on my red flowered one and hopefully produce many, many plants to share! Good luck with it!

[Roberta]

That red one was a wonderful rescue! When in bloom, impossible to ignore! Epiphyllums do last a little longer than the night-blooming Cereus. Mine typically last 2 or 3 days. Yes one of the wonderful features of these is the ease of propagation... populate the world with beautiful form and color.

[Slomo]

Hi all,

Again, thanks so much for your thoughts and photos. Very helpful. Well, the flowers bloomed last night, and look like they might make it through the day and open again tonight. First two pictures from last night,third from this morning. Apologies for the picture quality and the upside down.

[estación seca]

Beautiful! Were they fragrant at night?