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Cactaceae family

Nightblooming Cactus Hylocereus undatus

Also known as: Belle of the Night · Dragon Fruit · Dragonfruit · Night Blooming Cereus

Nightblooming Cactus is an introduced perennial tree, found in Hawaii and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Selenicereus undatus, the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of the genus Selenicereus in the family Cactaceae and is the most cultivated species in the genus. It is used both as an ornamental vine and as a fruit crop, the pitahaya or dragon fruit. Wikipedia →

⚠ Invasive here — plant a native instead USDA + GBIF

Nightblooming Cactus is flagged invasive in the U.S. These natives fill a similar niche — same growth habit, bloom season, height, and region — so you keep the look and feed local wildlife instead of spreading a problem.

Tropical Almond
Native
Tropical Almond
Terminalia catappa
●●●●●
Sweet Acacia
Native
Sweet Acacia
Vachellia farnesiana
●●●●○
Beach Sheoak
Native
Beach Sheoak
Casuarina equisetifolia
●●●○○
Spiny Fiddlewood
Native
Spiny Fiddlewood
Citharexylum spinosum
●●●○○
Matched on growth habit · bloom months · mature height · shared U.S. range (USDA + GBIF) — a starting point, not a prescription.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 11 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Tree layer (canopy / understory) — Sits in the tree of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[10] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[12] Other common names — Wikidata (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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