These cacti are a fairly common occurrence in Durban and other parts of South Africa. They have an amazing flower that only opens at night and early morning. Commonly known as the Princess / Queen of the Night, the nightblooming cereus, which I have in my garden and had always assumed was indigenous, does in fact originate from Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America.
And as bev18 from Port Alfred comment on this blog:
“We in South Africa regard this plant as an alien invader. It grows all over the place and although I admired it for many years, it was not until a friend of mine showed me the edible portion that I really began to appreciate it. The flower, in the correct conditions, grows into an interesting fruit which when chilled and sliced, is delicious. Not unlike a Kiwi fruit.”
Aesthetic and delicious. Should I chop it?
Don’t chop it unless you replace it with something indigenous at the same time – something green is sometimes better than nothing.
kill it. the invaders must die!
I think before you give it the chop you should at least try and eat it. Invite me round, I’d dig to taste it …
ja, chop it and serve it, then just plain chop it later. good point dagmar about replacing it. i agree, something green is better than nothing.
Hey, tomatoes aren’t indigenous but we let ’em grow all over the joint. If it’s tasty, it stays, that’s my policy. If it isn’t, it’s mulch.
Please remove ( Burn ) it, it is a Category 1 invader and once it escapes into the wild it spreads and is very difficult to control. I know I have seen how invasive it is
i think i agree with jeny on this one… maybe get the fruit and then chop it 😉