page_title: Hylocereus undatus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Hylocereus undatus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: By Etsai from en: The pitaya, also known as dragonfruit or dragon pearl is the fruit of a pitaya cactus. Native to Central and South America, the vine-like cactus is also cultivated in Southeastern Asian countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The fruit comes in three types all with leathery, slightly leafy skin: Hylocereus undatus, white flesh with pink skin Hylocereus polyrhizus, red flesh with pink skin Selenicereus megalanthus, white flesh with yellow skin Bân-lâm-gú: Hué-liông-kó, pinn-á tshenn-sik ê sī sik-kia, āu-piah n̂g ê sī king-tsio. 火龍果，邊仔青色的是釋迦，後壁黃的是弓蕉。
context_page_description: Hylocereus undatus, the white-fleshed pitahaya, is a species of 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. The native origin of the species has never been resolved.
context_section_description: Dragonfruit stems are scandent (climbing habit), creeping, sprawling or clambering, and branch profusely. There can be 4-7 of them, between 5 and 10 m or longer, with joints from 30–120 cm or longer, and 10–12 cm thick; with generally three ribs; margins are corneous (horn-like) with age, and undulate.
  Areoles, that is, the small area bearing spines or hairs on a cactus, are 2 mm across with internodes 1–4 cm. Spines on the adult branches are 1-3, 2–4 mm long, being acicular (needle-like) to almost conical, and grayish brown to black in colour and spreading, with a deep green epidermis.
  The scented, nocturnal flowers are 25–30 cm long, 15–17 cm wide with the pericarpel 2.5–5 cm long, about 2.5 cm thick, bracteoles ovate, acute, to 2.5 to less than 4 cm long; receptacle about 3 cm thick, bracteoles are linear-lanceolate, 3–8 cm long; outer tepals lanceolate-linear to linear, acuminate (tapering to a point), being 10–15 cm long, 10–15 mm wide and mucronate (ending in a short sharp point). Their colour is greenish-yellow or whitish, rarely rose-tinged; inner tepals are lanceolate (tapering to a point at the tip) to oblanceolate (i.e. more pointed at the base), up to 10–15 cm long about 40 mm wide at widest point, and mucronate, unbroken, sharp to acuminate (pointed), and white. Stamens 5–10 cm long, are declinate, inserted in one continuous zone from throat to 35 mm above the pericarpel and cream. The style (bearing the stigma) to 17, they are 5-24.5 cm long, stout, 6–8 mm thick, cream, and up to 26 stigma lobes, they can be whole or sometimes split at the top, cream, about 25 mm long. Nectar chambers are 30 mm long.
  The fruit is oblong to oval, 6–12 cm long, 4–9 cm thick, red with large bracteoles, with white pulp and edible black seeds.
caption: The red pitahaya at the Chiyai market, Taiwan
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