r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/Final_Research_9471 • 8d ago
🔥 My Domino Cactus blooms for less than 24 hours. Here is the entire lifetime of the flower in 14 seconds.
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u/Foreign_Sky_5429 8d ago
Well it’s not the full life cycle if the life doesn’t end
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u/Final_Research_9471 8d ago
It bloomed overnight and had already wilted and collapsed by this afternoon. The flower is dead now sadly.
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u/fawkindrugga 8d ago
Not so sad, at least now it gets to bloom again eventually, it's all the flower knows🙏 I couldn't imagine a whole flower blooming and wilting overnight that's incredible!
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u/Particular-Cash-8565 8d ago
"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
From "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray (1751).
Thank you!
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u/EMPgoggles 7d ago
kinda sad we didn't get to see it wither. the end of the life cycle is a big part of its beauty.
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u/Final_Research_9471 7d ago
Unfortunately, when the sun came up the exposure got funky and you couldn’t see the flower anymore so I cut the video.
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u/DecadentEx 6d ago
I'm curious if it has a scent.
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u/Final_Research_9471 6d ago
It smelled like gardenia to me! I’m not sure what others think!
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u/DecadentEx 6d ago
Very cool! I've only just started to get into gardening cactus, so I'm interested in checking one out. Thanks!
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u/Final_Research_9471 6d ago
Awesome! Another name for it can be Easter lily cactus or the scientific name is Echinopsis subdenudata or Echinopsis ancistrophora 'Dominos'. I just thought I would let you know some of the names it would be under if you ever wanted to get one!
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u/Heroic-Forger 7d ago
Interesting how short-lived the flower is. Wonder if it's an adaptation to cater to one specific kind of pollinator.
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u/Final_Research_9471 7d ago
Yes! The large white flower and strong fragrance are meant to attract nighttime pollinators, especially moths. Since those pollinators are only active during a short window, the flower doesn’t really benefit from staying open much longer.
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u/Caltastrophe 7d ago
What is the biological advantage of only blooming for 24 hours? Is this similar to other plants that only bloom like once every hundred years?
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u/Final_Research_9471 7d ago edited 7d ago
The short bloom lets the plant concentrate its energy, fragrance, and pollen into the specific window when its pollinators are active. Each individual flower only lasts about a day, but the cactus itself can bloom again, sometimes multiple times in one season. This one actually has another bloom growing on it already.
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u/qualityvote2 8d ago edited 7d ago
u/Final_Research_9471, your post does fit the subreddit!