Pitaya Species and Named Varieties

Pitaya Species and Named Varieties

At the present time, there are are large number of named cultivars and unnamed selections. Many selections have been made and are available in the US. There are breeding programs in Taiwan, Vietnam, and Israel. In countries where pitaya are native, selections from the wild are being used. Many of these have been introduced into countries that are interested in growing them. Unfortunately, information on the self-incompatibility of these cultivars and selections is not well documented. This makes cultivar (variety) recommendations difficult at best and potentially unreliable.

Species of pitaya

Species	Color
Species	Peel	Pulp
Hylocereus undatus	Red	White
Hylocereus triangularis	Yellow	White
Hylocereus costaricenes	Red	Red
Hylocereus polyrhizus	Red	Red
Hylocereus ocamponis	Red	Red
Selenicereus megalanthus	Yellow	White
Cereus triangularis	Yellow	White
Acanthocereus pitajaya	Yellow	White
Cereus ocamponis	Red	Red

Named varieties
Note: this section was removed from the University of Florida publication and is only for information purposes.

Name¹	Origin	Need for cross pollination	Weight (lbs)	Peel color	Pulp color	Flavor	Rec.²
Alice	California	Yes	0.5-1.0	Bright pink, green scales	White	Semisweet, good	M
American Beauty	Guatemala	No	0.5-1.0	Pink, light green scales	Dark pink	Good flavor	Y
Bloody Mary	California	Yes	0.25-0.5	Red, green scales	Dark red	Semisweet, good	N
Cosmic Charlie	California	No	0.75-1.25	Pink, light green scales	Pink	Grape/kiwi- like flavor	Y
Costa Rican Sunset	Costa Rica	Yes	0.25-0.5	Pink, green scales	Dark red	Good flavor	M
Dark Star	California	No	0.75-1.25	Pink, light green scales	Pink	Mild grape-like flavor	Y
David Bowie	California	No	0.5-1.0	Bright pink, green on margins of scales	White	Sweet, tangy flavor	Y
Delight	California	No	0.5-1.0	Bright pink, green scales	White	Sweet	Y
Guyute	Central America	No	0.5-1.0	Pink, green scales	White	Sweet	Y
Halleys Comet	California	No	1.5-2.0	Pink, green scales	Dark pink	Sweet, good flavor	Y
Harpua	Central America	No	0.75-1.0	Bright pink, green scales	White	Semisweet, good flavor	M
L.A. Women	California	Yes	0.75-1.5	Bright pink, green scales	White	Sweet, bad after taste	N (bad aftertaste)
Lake Atitlan	Guatemala	No	0.75-1.0	Bright pink, green scales	White	Sweet and tangy flavor	M
Makisupa	Central America	No	0.75-1.0	Pink, green scales	Dark Pink	Sweet, slightly astringent	Y
Neitzl	California	No	0.75-1.0	Bright pink, green scales	White	Sweet	Y
Physical Graffiti	California	No	0.75-1.5	Dark pink, green scales	Pink	Sweet, good flavor	Y
Purple Haze	California	No	1.0-2.0	Dark pink, green scales	Dark pink	Sweet grape/kiwi- like flavor	Y
Red Jaina	Florida	Yes	0.5-0.75	Dark pink, dark pink scales	Red	Semisweet, good flavor	N
Seoul Kitchen	Florida	No	0.75-1.0	Bright pink, light green scales	White	Sweet	Y
Thompson	California	No	0.75-1.5	Bright pink, green scales	White	Sweet, good flavor	Y
Vietnam Jaina	Vietnam	No	0.5-1.5	Bright pink, green scales	White	Semisweet	Y
Voodoo Child	Florida	No	0.15-0.25	Dark pink, green scales	Dark pink	Sweet, grape-like flavor	M
Yellow Dragon	Florida	No	0.5-0.75	Bright yellow, green tinged scales	White	Sweet, very good flavor	Y
Zamorano	Honduras	No	0.5-1.0	Red, scales with green margins	Red	Sweet, mild flavor	Y
¹ Selected and named in Florida. ² Recommendation for planting in the home landscape; Y, yes; M, maybe; and N, no.


Fig. 1 H. undatus White-fleshed pitahaya	Fig. 2 H. costaricensis Red fleshed pitahaya	Fig. 3 H. megalanthus Yellow Pitahaya	Fig. 4 H. triangularis

H. undatus (Pitaya blanca or white-fleshed pitahaya) has pink-skinned fruit with white flesh. This is the most commonly seen "dragon fruit".
H. costaricensis (Pitaya roja or red-fleshed pitahaya, also known as H. polyrhizus) has red-skinned fruit with red flesh.
H. megalanthus (Pitaya amarilla or yellow pitahaya, also known as Selenicereus megalanthus) has yellow-skinned fruit with white flesh.


Fig. 5 Red flesh dragon fruit H. costaricenes	Fig. 6 White flesh dragon fruit H. undatus	Fig. 7 Comparing white and red varieties

Hylocereus megalanthus, Yellow pitahaya fruit with spines removed

Fig. 8

Yellow pitaya
H. megalanthus


Fig. 9 'Bloody Mary' H. polyrhizus	Fig. 10 'Costa Rica Sunset' H. spp.


Fig. 11 'Delight' H. polyrhizus x undatus	Fig. 12 'Seoul Kitchen' H. undatus

Further Reading
Pitaya, Hylocereous undatus (Haw) - A Potential New Crop for Australia, Archives of the Rare Fruit Council of Australia

Back to
Pitaya Page

Bibliography

Crane, Johathan H., et al. "Pitaya Growing in the florida Home Landscape." Horticultural Sciences Dept., UF/IFAS Extension, HS1068, Original Pub. Nov. 2005, Revised Nov. 2016, and Dec. 2019, AskIFAS, edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS303. Accessed 17 June 2017, 17 Mar. 2021.

Photographs

Fig. ¹Eliasson, Ulf. 'Hylocereus undatus." Wikimedia Commons, 2003, (CC BY 2.5), commons.wikimedia.org. Accessed 20 June 2017.
Fig. ² Edward. "Hylocereus costaricensis." Wikipedia, 2005, wikipedia.org. Accessed 20 June 2017.
Fig. ³Edward. "Hylocereus megalanthus." Wikipedia, 2000, Public Domain, wikipedia.org. Accessed 20 June 2017.
Fig. ⁴ Hoyer, Richard C. "Hylocereus triangularis." Wikimedia Commons, 2009, Public domain, (CC BY 3.0), commons.wikimedia.org. Accessed 20 June 2017.
Fig. ^{5,6,7,9,10,11,12} Maguire, Ian. "Dragon fruit." Tropical Fruit Photography Picture Archive, 2011, trec.ifas.ufl.edu. Accessed 24 March. 2014.
Fig. ⁸Fibonacci. "Hylocereus megalanthus, Yellow pitahaya fruit with spines removed." Wikipedia, 2006, (CC BY-SA 3.0), wikipedia.org. Accessed 20 June 2017.

Published 24 March. 2014 LR. Last update 17 Mar. 2021 LR