Hello. Cacti do produce seeds. Those flowers probably opened over night as white cacti flowers generally do. Most likely pollinated by moths or bats. Looks like you will be getting a lot more flowers in the near future from this picture. Very nice! The bee seems to like it also.

If you're still looking for an ID I'm possibly the furthest thing from an expert, but it looks like it could possibly be a species of Pipe Organ Cactus which I THINK is part of the Stenocereus genus. Hopefully someone can confirm with a more accurate ID.

The flowers are typical of Trichocereus, now reclassified as Echinopsis. Pollinators are indeed bats. Flowers open in late afternoon, and remain open for about 24 hours or a little more. There are No cacti native to Australia, so these must have started from bird-transported seed.

Brad

Shaxhome, funny you don't mention Opuntia, the Prickly Pear cactus, which used to be a big pest in your part of the world, from what I have read.

Christopher

Check out Trichocereus spachianus.

Christopher...Ha! You're correct...I never mention them. Those Opuntia are a sore point, indeed (pun intended!). I have many hundreds of small ones and huge clumps on my place. They're also in flower currently (it's summer here). However, over the last decade I reckon I've destroyed 90% of what I had originally.

On my regular tramps all over my place, I carry a large pocket-knife and (carefully!) cut off pads from those nicely infected with cactoblastus and cochineal, and place those among healthy plants.

It's a long-term project, but I'm definitely winning!

(And don't get me started on Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima...)

And cactusmcharris, I reckon you've nailed the ID. Many thanks!

I am a cactus fan, but Opuntia are not among my favourites, if only for those nasty glochids. Spines are one thing, but glochids are seriously irritating.

Christopher

And yet, prickly pear serves up both it's pads and fruit for us to eat. try some recipes, you may want to corral a few plants and grow them for food.

ez

Christopher would likely feel differently if he had known that Keats wrote 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' after a breakfast of eggs and nopales.

G'day again, all! Thought I'd revive this oldish thread to show another discovery I made this morning, while spraying a few acres of Tree of Heaven...I'm starting to appreciate these guys now, at least for one month a year. (But still no love for Opuntia!)

Wow - enjoy them, they're a one-night wonder, IIRC. Love the top dressing, too.

shaxhome

Thank you for update, they are beautiful. Nice change to came upon these beauties while fighting the Tree of Heaven :) And I love the "top-dressing" too...(Jeff, lol).

Rina

Just dragging this old thread back (didn't realise it was 2 years ago!) to show the growth of the plant in the very first pic. These cacti are popping up all over my 100 acres now...probably 30 or 40 clumps I know of. I need to watch that they don't become too invasive, but I have no idea how I'd remove them. Much bigger than the more prolific Opuntia. (Click on pics to enlarge.)

Quite a growth in 2 years. Gorgeous blooms! Hope you don't have to get rid of them...:)

Thanks for the update.

I wonder if something in addition to birds are spreading the seed. The way the plants are spread along that log may suggest something more terrestrial planted those. Are the fruits tasty to other critters?

tj

That one sprouted from beneath the log. I've watched it grow from a baby, around 12 years ago, spreading on either side of the log. It's actually just one plant. It's impractical for me to cut off the seed pods as there are so many clumps of these growing all over my place, in ravines, on ridges, in thick bush etc.

My nearest neighbour is about a kilometre away, and she grows many different cacti outside. I imagine that's the source of these, and can only think that birds are the carriers. So even if I could eradicate my own plants, hers would still spread to me again.

Nice flowers but I'm worried this species is becoming invasive. It doesn't belong growing freely in Australia. However, at least they don't appear to be as hazardous to livestock as some other cacti. Is your neighbor aware her cacti may be escaping? Have you talked to anyone in government about these cacti appearing on your property? I'm just concerned.