It is not unusual to see flowering cacti, but to see a flowering San Pedro cactus is a rather special sight, as this is not a prolific flowerer and can take anything from five to 10 years to show its first beautiful white nocturnal flowers.
Although similar in looks, it is not to be confused with the more common Queen of the Night cactus or with the Organ Pipes cactus.
The San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) is native to the Andes mountains, where it grows at high altitudes. They vary in length from 3-6 metres, the tallest recorded specimen measuring a whopping 12,2 metres.
San Pedros have for centuries been widely used in Andean traditional medicine. Archaeological studies have found evidence dating as far back as 2 000 years of the Moche and Chavin cultures using this cactus as traditional medicine.
The San Pedro (or St Peter) cactus is so named based on the Catholic belief that since St Peter holds the key to heaven the psychoactive effect of this cactus is a gift from heaven, a miracle owing to the saint’s intervention.
Johan van Biljon of Caledon was fortunate enough to see his San Pedro cactus flower for the first time recently. The plant, which is about 10 years old, has grown to more than 3 m in height. Van Biljon says it was “absolutely incredible” to watch the flowers open, gently unfurling their petals to the night. The flowers, which can reach a diameter of up to 20 cm, flower only for two days.
According to internet sources it is legal to cultivate and plant these cactuses for gardening purposes, but not for consumption.