And the Creator said, “epiphyllum oxypetalum, you shall be a cactus, though you do not look like one. Once a year and only at night, you shall bear forth beautiful flowers while the world sleeps. Before dawn your flowers shall wither away, but only before being ravaged by bats.”

The epiphyllum oxypetalum did not understand this curious fate but it knew better than to argue with the Creator.

Perhaps the Creator felt a little guilty because later, the epiphyllum oxypetalum was given a lovely and pronounceable name: Queen of the Night.

Well, that is one explanation.

As we stayed up the other night and watched our epiphyllum oxypetalum burst forth like hot white fireworks, I began to think of another possibility.

I think that epiphyllum oxypetalum was once a ravishingly beautiful queen who was extraordinarily vain and did horrible things to others to preserve her youth and beauty.

It worked for a while, but time is a relentless adversary. Like a hungry pack of wolves, time pursues its victim and the ravages begin to show.

Blooms from the first night of Epiphyllum oxypetalum’s annual show (Click on any photo to enlarge):

In desperation, the queen consulted a dark wizard who said, “I can preserve your beauty for all eternity.”

“But there will be some conditions,” he added quietly.

The queen either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

All she heard was, “preserve your beauty for all eternity.”

And so she struck the grand bargain with the dark wizard.

The queen became epiphyllum oxypetalum and once a year, her beauty does burst forth. But only in the dark of night when few will notice.

Second night’s blooming of Epiphyllum oxypetalum (Click on any photo to enlarge.):

If you are present, very very present, and listen carefully, you can hear the Queen of the Night crying softly. It is a joyful cry because she is once again the ravishing beauty. But it is also a sad cry because the moment that she reaches her peak is the moment that she begins to wither away.

“Remember me!” she begs anyone who is awake. “Remember me as I am now and I shall be back in one year’s time so that you will always remember how beautiful I once was.”

Come morning, the Queen of the Night droops toward the ground, limp and lifeless.

This year, to our delight, the Queen of the Night made an encore appearance.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum in the morning (Click on any photo to enlarge):

Half the flowers bloomed late on Monday night and half bloomed the next evening.

It is as if the Queen is seeking a way around her curse. Two nights this year. Perhaps three during the next? I wouldn’t be surprised if someday, from sheer force of will and evolutionary exertion, the Queen makes her presence known in broad daylight.

As the queen once said to her subjects, “My beauty shall not be denied.”

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