Cereus peruvianus - Night Blooming Cactus

I suppose the cool of night is the only way the flowers can survive for a short time................

Milky:

That's the first time I've heard of this...I only know that they can bloom in summer when the nights can be quite warm. I do know the flowers don't last long and then the red edible fruits develop.

Oh that's better and better... edible fruit!

Lori:

This cactus has many common names: oregon pipe cactus, apple cactus...it has these common names because the plant when older looks like oregon pipes and the fruits are red like an apple.

Once again, I may sound uninformed, but what is an Oregon pipe? and another observation...slightly off topic...but here in our cities all of the electric service etc. is on underground cable...I notice the wires and poles in the picture...That's the better option in an earthquake zone, right?

Lori:

The old neighborhoods of in San Diego all have telephones poles, which includes most in the urban areas...the newer neighborhood that were build in the 70's on have underground wiring.

you're right...I was jumping to a conclusion!

Lori:

It was very good observation...however, sometimes when wires are underground during a large earthquake they sustain much less damage than the above ground telephone poles and wires. I saw this during the Loma Prieta Earthquake (7.1 magnitude) in the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, 1989 (the largest earthquake to hit the S.F. Bay Area since the April 18, 1906 huge earthquake).

Many telepoles and wire came down...well, even a section of the S.F. - Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed. It was a hell of a shake!