The wait is finally over as rare moonflower blooms in Cambridge
A web cam captured the moment the petals began to unravel
After days of anticipation, a rare cactus at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden has finally flowered for the first time anywhere in the UK.
The moonflower which spirals around tree trunks only stays in bloom for twelves hours and usually starts to flower towards sunset, but this one started much earlier in the day.
When the cactus flowered there was a "jasmine-like scent" say staff, though it was not as powerful as expected..
The flower began to fade at almost 12 hours later. The scent also changed to something much less pleasant, according to staff it was "smelling like public toilets".
The anticipation of the flower blooming has been going on since the 9th February, when the shoot had reached 20cm. That was the length at which its parent plant from Bonn Botanic Garden bloomed, staff thought that it would flower at a similar length, but it took a bit longer.
The flower is usually found in the Amazon rainforest and this particular one was brought to the botanic garden in 2015.
The plant’s name, Selenicereus wittii, is derived from the Greek (Selene), from the Greek moon goddess, and cereus, meaning “candle” in Latin, referring to the nocturnal flowers.
The species name wittii comes from the man who discovered it – Karl Moritz Schumann (1851 – 1904) was born in Germany and worked as a botanist at the Botanical Museum of Berlin.
CUBG says that Moonflowers can be seen as a symbol of blossoming in dark times - perhaps good timing for this to be flowering during a global pandemic.
Iconic glasshouse reopens at Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Giant plant flowers for the first time at Cambridge University Botanic Garden