Night Blooming Cereus by PatGoltz
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Peniocereus greggii. Also known as Reina de la Noche, Queen of the Night.
These plants bloom only once a year for a single night, perhaps twice occasionally, in the summer. The blossoms open after dark. They are pollinated by moths, and have a wonderful fragrance. The rest of the year, the plant just looks like a skinny dead cactus with branches.
This year, some of the plants bloomed one night, and the rest, the next night. I went on the second night. Shortly before sunset, they got a horrible hailstorm that destroyed some of the buds. Very few were open when I was there; I only saw two completely open perfect flowers.
Taken at Tohono Chul Park, Tucson, Arizona, USA. "Tohono Chul" means "desert corner" in the language of the Tohono O'odham (Desert People).

Comments (7)
Breathtaking! I love such flowers! Great shot!
looks fantastic in this lighting !!
Wonderful and beautiful photography....!!!
I used to have one...it bloomed faithfully for many years. You had to be careful not to disrupt the opening of the flower by turning on the light until it was fully open. Otherwise it wouldn't open all the way and would die by morning anyway.
A beautiful blossom!!
the smell is wonderful
Great shot (not so easy for this bright white color) Thank you for the nice information ! :~)