Nishagandhi / Belle De Nuit
Epiphyllum oxypetalum
Also known as Lady Of The Night, Night-Blooming Cereus, Queen Of The Night
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- June-September
How to identify Nishagandhi
Identify Nishagandhi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: June-September.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Cactaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Nishagandhi.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Epiphyllum oxypetalum
- Genus
- Epiphyllum
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Native to
- Central America
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Assam, Odisha, Tripura, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- June-September
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Cactaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Solitary
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Nishagandhi itself; the rest are typical of the Cactaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- निशागन्धी Nishagandhi
- Bengali
- নিশিপদ্ম
- Tamil
- பிரம்ம கமலம்
- Kannada
- ರಾತ್ರಿ ರಾಣಿ
- Malayalam
- നിശാഗന്ധി, Epiphyllum oxypetalum, അനന്തശയനം(പുഷ്പം)
- Marathi
- ब्रह्मकमल Brahma kamal, ब्रह्मकमल, डचमन्स पाईप कॅक्टस
- Sinhala
- කඩුපුල්
About Nishagandhi
Belle de Nuit (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is a shrub in the Cactaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and 11 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from June to September.
Uses
Locally it is long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Cactaceae
Cactus family
Nishagandhi belongs to the Cactaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Cactaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Nishagandhi or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides