This plant has been in our house for last 5 years but I never saw it flowering. It was rumored that it blooms at midnight. The other night I saw it blooming and the flower turned out to be really beautiful. Since my father did not know the name of the plant (he is the the one who knows everything about the plants - I am just the waterboy!) a google search was made. It turned out that the plant has got scores of names, following being prominent:
1. Cereus oxypetalus2. Epiphyllum oxypetalum
3. Phyllocactus oxypetalus
Commonly the flower is know as the Queen of the night and Dutchman's-Pipe Cactus. Information on web suggests that the plant flowers once in a year. But I have found it blooming twice, once in early August and again in September, probably Indian climate suits it. First time there were fifteen buds, four bloomed on the first night and eleven on the second. The second time there were only five or six buds. Plant's name is derived from the way the buds point upwards like a smoking pipe. The buds can be seen opening slightly in the early evening. By midnight the flower is in full bloom and by next morning the flower is closed and the show is over!
