Fritch’s Cactus
Cactus, originally uploaded by trekr.
Another view of the cactus flower I’ve been featuring on these pages the last few days. The picture hardly does this flower justice. It opens only for a few hours during the hottest part of the day and is closed at night and for most of the morning. The variegated petals are quite stiff and it seems as if the cactus must exert a great deal of energy to open and close them. When closed, they are very tight as you might expect of a flower that has never opened before.