In the United States, Hylocereus undatus is most commonly referred to as Dragon Fruit. It is less commonly known as Pitaya, its Mexican name. Pitaya is in the Cactus family, and in researching this plant I was surprised to learn that it is endemic to Central America because I had previously associated it with Southeast Asia. Perhaps this is why: It was originally introduced to the Philippines by the Spanish in the 1500s, and Vietnam is presently the largest international producer of Pitaya. But like all true Cacti, Pitaya originates in the Americas--but no one knows exactly where. It is found naturally across Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia. Perhaps someone does know exactly where it originated--on a particular seaside hill, along a dry, sacred mountain ridge, beneath certain ancient tree--but we just haven't asked the right person yet. There is so much more to learn about ecology, and I suspect its furtherance has something to do with dialogue.
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In learning that they were in the Cactaceae family, the image of a prickly pear fruit came to mind. The Pitaya fruit similarly grows on the edges of its verdant, fleshy limbs--a juicy little impulse of reproduction, bourgeoning like a pimple on its green surface--the surface itself like caricature of a leaf. A leaf that God drew as a toddler. But she still proudly hangs them on the walls of her deserts. Pre-dating grasses--those came in her teen years.
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Pitaya flowers only bloom at night. In the wild, the flowers are pollinated by bats and moths. The ecologist says: They bloom at night for nocturnal pollinators. But I ask: Who do they patiently wait for? Who can only have words for them after dark? Night falls, and as the honey bees huddle in their apiaries, the moth clocks-in for work--not as a mindless harvester of nectar, but as a messenger travelling only under the stars. Some conversations are best held at midnight. The bees just don't understand.
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