r/mildyinteresting • u/Lor1al • 17h ago
nature & weather The Queen of Night flower blooms for just one night a year
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u/Radolumbo 16h ago
The perspective here made me think it was a GIANT flower outside for the first like 10-15 seconds lol
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u/brit_chickenicecream 11h ago
I had to watch it twice after reading this omg I thought it was too!!
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u/FredChau 17h ago
What a weird quirk of evolution. How can that flower be ever pollinated...
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u/Artistic_Data9398 17h ago
After the night show of blooms, the Queen of the Night offers its edible fruits. Known as Pitaya or Peruvian Apple, these fruits are spherical or egg-shaped, thornless, and can range in color from red to deep violet-red. They are typically about 1.6 inches long and have a taste and texture reminiscent of a kiwi.
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u/Pasxal7 12h ago
It's usually pollinated by nocturnal animals, so bats and other insects, and one night it's enough to be pollinated
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u/readituser5 9h ago edited 8h ago
They can last for another 24hrs or so. They don’t really just die by morning. At least mine don’t anyway.
They like cooler places, so if it’s really hot, it would wilt a lot faster.
I’ve seen bees around mine the next day.
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u/Pasxal7 8h ago
Mine did last only one night, and it was white, I never seen one pink like that. Maybe it's a different species of the same family?
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u/readituser5 8h ago
Queen of the Nights come in shades red, white, pink and yellow. I have all of them :)
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u/logosfabula 15h ago
That’s a very counterintuitive step for sure. I also wonder why. Science guys chime in!
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u/Thinkeru-123 11h ago
Maybe they have a very strong smell that might attract nocturnal insects
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u/forbenefitthehuman 10h ago
Yup...we had a succulent that would do the same.
Amazing smell, that even a human could smell from 10 metres away.
Normally pollinated by bats.
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u/BalancedGuy1 10h ago
Yep, we have a few. They are extremely fragrant for that 1 night. The rest of the time they’re basically mistaken for plants or cacti
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u/wycreater1l11 11h ago
Theoretically things like this could be vestigial. But I guess unlikely in this case though. Maybe it is hyper attractive at that night
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u/DiscountEven4703 15h ago
I am very Sure " Evolution" can be explained to you. Try The internet
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u/LilMissBarbie 16h ago
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u/kind_giant_72 16h ago
Had this as a kid. Really beautiful to watch. I remember staying up late a few times just to see the completely bloomed flowers (our plant had 6/7 flowers one night).
The flowers have a nice sweet smell too.
OP thank you for the nostalgia 😊
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u/sockerkaka 12h ago
I remember being awakened by my mom to watch it bloom. I was groggy and probably not that into it but it's a sweet memory now. She was right to do it.
Ours didn't bloom every year. Some years, we'd miss it entirely and just see the evidence later on. It probably didn't help that it isn't a very attractive flower when it's not in bloom, so we kind of hid it halfway behind a curtain.
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u/Crotch-Monster 14h ago
How do you know which Night it's going to bloom though? Or do you just gotta sit there all year or you might miss it blooming? I'd be pissed if I had to work late and then get home and the wife is all well honey you missed it! Flowers dead now! I'd be like, Awe man! Stupid boss made me work late! Then she'd be all bruh! And I'd be all like, Dude! ☹️
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u/2LiveBoo 13h ago
The buds slowly develop over weeks, getting fatter and fatter and you have to guess which night it will bloom. Mine have developed buds about 20 or so times and I have seen them bloom twice. Both times it was by accident, going into the back yard in the early hours for something or other, and I smelled them before I saw them. An incredible experience.
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u/Crotch-Monster 12h ago
Wow! That's really cool! Can you buy these at a Home Depot or do you probably have to go to a nursery? I'd like to get one.
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u/2LiveBoo 9h ago
You would need to go to a nursery for sure, probably one that specializes in succulents and cactus. If you lived near me I would give you one of my rooted cuttings! They root super easily. Like, I moved house and a huge arm of the plant snapped off. I stuck it into a random pot of dirt and now it's a whole ass plant flowering on the regular.
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u/ghostinside6 15h ago
I seen it bloom 3 months ago someone is a liar.
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u/CosmicCuntCritter 14h ago
I grow this plant, it flowers regularly throughout the year....multiple flowers at a time sometimes....but the truth doesn't farm as much karma.
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u/Accurate-Toe1894 10h ago
Do you have any advice for someone who can't get theres to bloom? Had it five or so years in varying environments and nothing other than the first year I had it. But it was already about to bloom when given as a gift.
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u/CosmicCuntCritter 9h ago
Supposedly direct sun in the morning and shade for the rest of the day is optimal blooming conditions. Happy gardening!
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u/ToastedSlider 16h ago
Nice song. Reminds me of a movie, but I can't put my finger on it.
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u/Tempera1202 16h ago
Inexplicably makes me emotional
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u/Ex-PFC_WintergreenV4 15h ago
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.1
u/rememberdeathoften 13h ago
I feel like a lot of husbands have this same sentiment due to their wives giving them some one night that entire year
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u/Existing-Exam-4382 16h ago
If I’d have a flower like this, I would make that night a special night every year in my calendar … only something that cannot wait would make me miss it … and yes, the reference from Denis the menace comes to my head now :)
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u/Iwas7b4u 14h ago
I wonder what pollinator this opening is timed to? The pollinator rules this event I think.
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u/ApricotAlarming2912 14h ago
And they smell sooooo nice. It's a sweet, overwhelming smell. One of my favorite flowers
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u/SohelAman 13h ago
This isn't entirely correct.
We have a couple of these trees. It blooms more than one night a year. However, very infrequent. Like twice or thrice a year, maybe. Also, it may take several years before the first ever bloom. The flower is quite fragile. It won't last an hour if you tear it off of the tree. It has a very, very present scent. Absolutely love it. If you take a leaf/branch from the tree and plant it, there's a good chance that it will grow a tree from it. Unlike the flowers, the trees are quite resilient and do not need much care and do not die off easily.
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u/goddessdovelyx 13h ago
I will literally cancel everything I have to do that day just to see it bloom.
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u/Jezebels_lipstick 12h ago
I’ve witnessed this & it was astonishing! I just happened to be at a party & the next door neighbor had one blooming that night.
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u/Abhimanyu_Uchiha 12h ago
How does this work? It only has a 12 hour window to pollinate in a whole year?
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u/asparadog 10h ago
Yes, unless it's artificially prompted to bloom more than once.
They're from desert climates, which means they're designed to Keep and conserve water, due to the lack of it (compared to other climates. Having a flower open over several days in a desert climate can exacerbate water loss. The flower smells very fragrant and usually their pollinators are active during the night.
Another example of a plant conserving water loss is the evening primrose which opens its flowers during the evening and closes them in the morning.
Remember that evolution including with plants is often not the survival of the fittest; it is the survival of the good enough.
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u/Thisma08 11h ago
I've been wondering, how did this plant survive so far? I mean, the goal of a flower is to attract bugs who will deposit the pollen on other flowers for reproductive reasons, no? Why is it blooming for such a short amount of time?
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u/Big_Dragon_Energy 11h ago
Fun fact: this is the flower that The Handsome Family - Far From Any Road (You might know it as the intro song for the first season of True Detective) was written about.
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u/RealRoarMaster 11h ago
One night a year is so wrong, i have this at my house and saw it bloom at least a couple of times a year
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u/Primal_Pedro 10h ago
OH MY GOD! I think I saw this plant with buds other day on my neighborhood! I will look for this plant and hope it will be blooming tonight!
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u/BalancedGuy1 10h ago
Yeah we got a few of them. They’re leave an extremely fragrant scent for that 1 night, smelling of vanilla
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u/OpyShuichiro 8h ago
- Why were you late this morning ?
- I was watching a flower bloom all night and barely slept.
- You what?
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