[Illustration: Peniocereus greggi]
Common Names: NIGHTBLOOMING CEREUS, (_Reina-de-la-noche_)
Arizona and Texas deserts. (_Peniocereus greggi_). White. June-July.
Cactus family. Size: 2 to 5 feet tall.
One of the most delicately beautiful of the flowers for which the desert
is famous, “Queen of the Night” is waxy-white with thread-like stamens
that give it the appearance of wearing a halo. The night on which the
Cereus blooms is eagerly awaited by desert dwellers of long residence.
All of the buds on a single plant, from two to six or seven in number,
may open on the same night or may time their opening over a period of a
week or more, usually in late June or early July, depending upon the
season and other factors.
It is not unusual for nearly all of the plants in one locality to
blossom on the same night. Buds unfold in the early evening, the flowers
wilting permanently soon after sunrise the following morning. Fragrant,
with a heavy, cloying perfume, they attract large numbers of
night-flying insects.
The long, slender, fluted, lead-colored stems of the Nightblooming
Cereus are inconspicuous and unattractive. Usually growing upward from
beneath a Creosotebush or other desert shrub, they are partially
supported and almost entirely hidden by the larger plant.
The beet-like root, which serves as a moisture-storage organ, may weigh
from 5 to 85 pounds and is reportedly eaten by desert Indians. Fruits
are podlike, pointed at the ends, and the size of a large pickle. They
turn dull red when mature.