Night Blooming Cereus — Images by Phil Bentley
One of the strangest plants of the desert, the night-blooming cereus, is a member 
of the cactus family that resembles nothing more than a dead bush most of the year.
It is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one midsummer’s night each year,
its exquisitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun.
— Content Source: Desert USA
Night-blooming Cereus Fruit (Sabino Canyon Recreational Area) — Images by kenne
“This unusual cactus has an aura of mystery about it, as it is rarely seen in the wild. Looking like dead creosote branches, it is not until it blooms that the Desert Night-blooming Cereus becomes obvious. Most of its mass is in a tuber below the ground. Twiggy finger-thick stems can grow up to 5’ long. Flowering happens at night, usually occur in June, and blooms are large, white, and fragrant. Golf ball size bright red fruit follow. This species occurs naturally in Arizona to Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and Sonora.”
— Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
FLOWER of the moon!
Still white is her brow whom we worshiped on earth long ago;
Yea, purer than pearls in deep seas, and more virgin than snow.
The dull years veil their eyes from her shining, and vanish afraid,
Nor profane her with age—the immortal, nor dim her with shade.
It is we are unworthy, we worldlings, to dwell in her ways;
We have broken her altars and silenced her voices of praise.
She hath hearkened to singing more silvern, seen raptures more bright;
To some planet more pure she hath fled on the wings of the night,—
Flower of the moon!
— from The Night-Blooming Cereus by Harriet Monroe
Night-blooming Cereus Cactus — Computer Art by kenne
— from The Midnite Show by Jonathan Williams
“You Come To Me At Night” (Night-blooming Cereus photo by Jeffery Banfield) — Computer Art by kenne
— kenne
Night-blooming Cereus (ceroid cacti) — Image by Jeffery Banfield
Night-blooming Cereus Fruit — Image by kenne
The Night-Blooming Cereus
— from “Night-Blooming Cereus” by Robert Hayden
Listen to “Night-Blooming Cereus” by Robert Hayden
https://soundcloud.com/william-a-sigler/night-blooming-cereus-by
