I’ve heard rumors that many cacti bloom for only one day, but thought this was odd because I have cacti in my garden that will continue to bloom day after day (they open when the sun hits them and close in late afternoon). Below is an example (among succulents and daisies) of a cactus that will open and close for a week or so.
But we’ve had this cactus in our yard that I planted a year and a half ago when it was 10 inches tall, and it has since grown to two feet. Then in late November (we are southern hemisphere so it’s spring) it suddenly started developing four large buds that eventually grew to be about 6 inches long, including the stalk. And one evening, they all four burst into bloom. They stayed open all night and the net day, and by the next evening they were once again closing and then began shrivelling.
So I just wanted to share these photos because it is such a rare treat. I hate to question mother nature, but it seems odd that a plant would invest so much energy into such large flowers that are open for such a short time. I suspect there must be some sort of bat or bird which should have pollinated it, given the size of the flower. But most likely this one never got pollinated. Why do I say that? There are somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 different species of cactus. And none are native to Africa – so unless the pollinator also came to Namibia, this flower is out of luck.
