Brahmakamal
: Orchid Cactus: Epiphyllum oxypetallum
Epiphyllum
oxypetalum is a very interesting
and unique plant. It belongs to Family Cactaceae. It is commonly known as Night
blooming Cereus, Queen of the night,Lady of the night as its beautiful Lotus like
flower blooms late night. In India it is called as Brahma Kamal ( ब्रह्मकमल )
and is treated as a sacred plant.It is popularly known as Orchid Cactus as the
flower has orchid like beauty and plant resembles cactus in habit. It is known by different common names in different parts
of the world viz. Jungle cactus, Dutchman's
Pipe
The generic name
Epiphyllum of the plant refers to
flowers borne on leaf like phylloclade and the Specific name oxypetalum refers
to acute petals.
Cereus oxypetalus,
Phyllocactus oxypetalus, Cereus latifrons, Epiphyllum latifrons, Phyllocactus
grandis, Epiphyllum grande, Epiphyllum acuminatum are the names used for similar plants.
Distribution :
The Plant has many
synonyms viz. Cereus oxypetalus,
Phyllocactus oxypetalus (de Candolle), Phyllocactus acuminatus , Epiphyllum
grande, Epiphyllum latifrons and is often confused with Cereus species. The
plants of Cactaceae generally have origin in Central America. Closely allied
species like Epiphyllum crenatum , E. Hookerii, E. Anguliger are distributed in
Northern and Central America. Epiphyllum oxypetalum Plant is native to Sri
lanka where it is known as Kaduphul ,it
is believed that plant blooms rarely and
that too late night. In India this flower has been reported from different
parts like Mumbai, Bangalore,Chennai, Ranchi ,Uttrakhand etc.The plant flowers generally in rainy season from mid June
to mid October. It has diverse distribution and grows wild in
tropical rain forests. A slightly different type is found in Mexico ,Brazil, Venezuela
and is locally described as Phyllocactus
purpusii . It is also found as a cultivated plant in some parts of America such
as California either as Epiphyte or Lithophyte. Here the flowers bear carmine
red coloured outer tepals and instead of sweet fragrance has slightly unpleasant
smell.
Systematic Position :
Bentham and Hooker’s Classification
System ( 1862-1883)
|
Cronquist’s( 1981)
system of Classifiction
|
||
Division
|
Phanerogams
|
Kingdom
|
Plantae
|
Class
|
Dicotyledons
|
Subkingdom
|
Tracheophyta
|
Sub
Class
|
Polypetalae
|
Superdivision
|
Spermatophyta
|
Series
|
Calciflorae
|
Division
|
Magnoliophyta
|
Order
|
Ficoidales
|
Class
|
Magnoliopsida
|
Family
|
Cactaceae
|
Sub
Class
|
Caryophyllidae
|
Genus
|
Epiphyllum
|
Order
|
Caryophyllal;es
|
Species
|
oxypetalum
|
Family
|
Cactaceae
|
Genus
|
Epiphyllum
|
||
Species
|
Oxypetalum
|
||
A P De Condolle (
!824-1873) System of Classification
|
Engler and
Prantle’s System of Classification( 1849-1893)
|
||
Kingdom
|
Plantae
|
Class
|
Dicotyledons
|
Sub Kingdom
|
Angiosperms
|
Sub Class
|
Archichlamydeae
|
Class
|
Dicotyledonae (Eudicots )
|
Order
|
Opuntiales
|
Order
|
Caryophyllales
|
Family
|
Cactaceae
|
Family
|
Cactaceae
|
Genus
|
Epiphyllum
|
Genus
|
Epiphyllum
|
Species
|
oxypetallum
|
Species
|
oxypetalum
|
||
Hutchinson’s System of Classification (1959)
|
|||
Phylum
|
Angiospermae
|
||
Sub-phylum
|
Dicotyledones
|
||
Division
|
Lignosae
|
||
Order
|
Cactales
|
||
Family
|
Cactaceae
|
||
Genus
|
Epiphyllum
|
||
Species
|
oxypetalum
|
||
