Blooming In The Night

Cactus flowers are some of the most beautiful yet amazing flowers I've seen.  They call some of the worlds most harsh environments home.  They lead a hot, dry existence that certainly is not conducive to plant life.  They're spiny, poky, mean and tough.  If you can make it past the tough exterior of the highly evolved plant, beauty and sustenance await.

Many species of cactus are forage-able.   If you know how to collect them, Nopales can be very tasty indeed.  Cactus fruit makes excellent jam, syrup or juice.  There is a species commonly referred to as the Honolulu Queen, which is a night-blooming cereus. They are almost always white, large and usually fragrant.  The flowers open just after nightfall and by morning are already wilting.  I think this is positively fascinating!  Really all I wanted to do was share some cool pictures, but I thought I should probably write something too.

XO Loves,

Me