Pitahayas

Two kinds of pitahaya
Two kinds of pitahaya

The fruits of several different cactuses are called pitahayas. The yellow ones in the picture are Hylocereus megalanthus, and the pink ones are Hylocereus undatus. To be honest, I was rather disappointed by the (lack of) flavour of them both. Some time ago I had what I think was a Hylocereus costaricensis, which was deep red all the way through, and much tastier.

I wish I had a bigger garden, because this is what Hylocereus looks like:

Hylocereus - Queen of the night cactus, early in the morning before the flowers closed. Breña Alta
Hylocereus – Queen of the night cactus, early in the morning before the flowers closed.

Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.

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