The Night Blooming Cereus (Selenicereus grandiflorus) is one of nature's most magical plants.
This cactus produces enormous, fragrant white flowers that bloom only once a year, and only at night. By dawn, the flowers have wilted, their brief life complete.
The Magic of One Night
There is something deeply moving about a flower that gives everything in a single night. It holds nothing back, blooming with total abandon, filling the night air with intoxicating fragrance.
The flower opens as darkness falls, reaching its peak around midnight, then slowly fades as dawn approaches. If you blink, you miss it.
Medicinal Uses
In the herbal tradition, Night Blooming Cereus is known as a heart remedy. The fresh flowers and stems have been used for:
- Heart palpitations
- Angina
- Shortness of breath
- Nervous heart conditions
The homeopathic remedy Cactus grandiflorus is prepared from this plant and is used for constricting sensations around the heart.
The Teaching
Perhaps the Night Blooming Cereus teaches us about impermanence and presence. We cannot hold onto beauty - we can only witness it, fully present, in the moment it unfolds.
To sit with the cereus through the night, watching its petals unfurl in the moonlight, is a meditation on the preciousness of the present moment.
Everything blooms and fades. The question is: are we paying attention?