By: E. Rhiannon Vincent
INTRODUCTION:
Hello, I am going to speak to you about the amazing Night blooming Cereus Cactus. This cactus grows and thrives in the Sonoran Desert. Did you know that the Night blooming Cereus provides homes and food for many desert animals? It has beautiful large, white, fragrant blossoms. This cactus has numerous flowers that only like to bloom at night. Unfortunately, these flowers have a very short life. Sometimes I am called the princess or queen of the night because of my short life.
WHO AM I?
I am a Night Blooming Cactus part of the cereus genus of flowering cacti. I love to grow in the Sonoran Desert. My flowers only come out at night and by morning my wonderful little blossoms are already starting to wilt. Sometimes I bear fruit called Hylocereus that people love to eat. This fruit is sometimes called Dragonfruit because of its appearance. 
WHERE DO I LIVE?
I am usually found in the Sonoran Desert. Sometimes you can find me in tropical areas such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti or Central America. I love hot, humid and dry climates.
WHAT DO I EAT?
I don’t eat anything because I am a plant but I love to drink up the water from the ground. I can also absorb moisture from the air using osmosis. Lots of animals love to eat my fruit if they can get past my spine covered arms.
I am can be extremely tall and I sometimes look like a tree. My flowers are white and have yellow stamen. My blossoms are sweet scented and smell like vanilla. My flowers open so quickly that you can actually watch it happen. These flowers only open for one night. When my flower falls off, juicy little fruit develop. My fruit isn’t thorny but if you want to reach them, you have to get past my small spines and tangled vines. Ouch!
HOW DO I REPRODUCE?
I can grow and reproduce from seeds. I can do something really amazing! If you cut off a segment of my arm, you can plant it in the ground and watch me grow.
FUN FACTS ABOUT ME!
I can be a very strong heart medicine. I am sometimes called “pain in the heart” by the Native American Shoshone tribe. They believe that I can help anxiety and heart pain.
NOW LETS SEE WHAT YOU REMEMBER!
ACTIVITY
You did a great job working on this lesson today. I hope that you had a wonderful time learning about me. So, let’s have fun doing an activity about me. You can work with your friends, parents or teacher. I want you to create a clay model of me. Try to include as many of my features that you learned about in the model. After you let your model dry you may paint it too. Have fun!!!
