Serpent Cactus (Cereus serpentinus)
Mexico
In one of the cultivated gardens of Northern Mexico we are introduced by the hospitable natives (half Mexican, half Spanish), to that weird and striking growth, the Cereus serpentinus, known also in the realm of botany as Nyctocereus serpentinus. Any one of its long sinuous tentacles, the six to fifteen entangled stems, might easily remind one of the twisted body of a serpent springing at its intended victim! This is a Night Blooming Cereus cactus, supposed to be a native of eastern Mexico, where it grows half wild in hedges and over walls, but its habitat is uncertain. The stems, eight to fifteen feet long, grow erect for about ten feet, and then bend over or are pendent for several feet; on top of the ridges running along them are clusters of slender spreading cream-white and reddish brown spines, flexible and not stiff like those of most cacti.
NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS; GODDESS OF THE NIGHT; LA REINA DE NOCHE; THE QUEEN OF NIGHT (Cereus Greggii)
You must come to the desert in the soft shadows of the moonlit night to see the ethereal beauty of this rare and exquisite flower. For only one night in each year does the flower queen come forth into bloom, scenting the warm sweet air of the desert land for miles and miles, while thousands of people, Indian and white, gather for the brilliant spectacle of hundreds of thousands of waxy white blossoms. Then no more may the eye of man behold the lovely colorings, nor sense the exotic perfume of the Goddess of the Night, until her appointed time comes yet again in the Desert Land of Plants and Flowers.
SAHUARO OR GIANT CACTUS (Cereus giganteus); AND PALO VERDE
The noble “Sage of the Desert,” towering fifty feet into the air, oldest and largest of the American Cacti, often attaining the age of two hundred and fifty years, entwining with the Palo Verde.
Why are such names as la Reina de Noche (the Queen of Night), Mexican Night Blooming Cereus, Junco Espinoso, given to this Cereus? We see the answer in the large bloom nearly a foot long and over seven inches wide, of a delicate tan-pink in background, shading into the soft cream-white of the petals, then the corona of stamens, a symphony of pale yellow and white; touches of green grace the bases of the sepals, and the whole forms a lovely picture against the background of old adobe dwellings, evanescent and brilliant in the white rays of the southern moon. And the fragrance of this lovely Cereus! The perfume from a single blossom will fill a large room or a whole yard: a pronounced spicy odor somewhat like that of a tuberose. This beautiful flower resembles that of the Cereus Greggii, our own Night Blooming Cereus. Its delicate colorings and poignancy of perfume make it one of the finest blossoms of the flower kingdom, much in demand for cactus gardens and window decoration. The showy beauties are highly prized by Mexicans and Spaniards as well, both in Mexico and abroad. Strictly night-blooming, and opening but one night in a season, the beautiful blossoms begin to unfold soon after sundown, having increased rapidly in size the day before, the loosened sepals and petals giving the flower the appearance of an inverted flask; the blossoms close soon after sunrise unless the day is cloudy, when they remain open until late afternoon. This blossoming, however, continues on different plants during April, May, and even into June. With favorable conditions the weird serpent plants run wild and grow luxuriantly, forming very striking hedges; and they are most attractive as climbers over the Mexican adobe walls.