page_title: Night-blooming cereus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Night-blooming cereus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Night-blooming cereus before full boom at Sakherbazar, Kolkata
context_page_description: Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to a large number of flowering ceroid cacti that bloom at night. The flowers are short lived, and some of these species, such as Selenicereus grandiflorus, bloom only once a year, for a single night. Other names for one or more cacti with this habit are princess of the night, Honolulu queen, Christ in the manger, dama de noche and queen of the night.
context_section_description: Regardless of genus or species, night-blooming cereus flowers are almost always white or very pale shades of other colors, often large, and frequently fragrant. Most of the flowers open after nightfall, and by dawn, most are in the process of wilting. Plants in the same geographical area tend to bloom on the same night. Also for healthy plants there can sometimes be as many as three separate blooming events spread out over the warmest months. The plants that bear such flowers can be tall, columnar, and sometimes extremely large and tree-like, but more frequently are thin-stemmed climbers. While some night-blooming cereus are grown indoors in homes or greenhouses in colder climates, most of these plants are too large or ungainly for this treatment, and are only found outdoors in tropical areas.
caption: A night-blooming cereus before full bloom at Sakherbazar, Kolkata
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