'Queen of the Night' blooms in Sarasota, attracts crowd at viewing party

'Queen of the Night' blooms

When the sun goes down, "The Queen of the Night" comes out, and it's the only night of the year that the bloom is on display at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Kylie Jones reports.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Hundreds of people came out to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota on Thursday night to watch a bloom that only happens once a year.

When the sun goes down, the "Queen of the Night" blooms.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, is a night-flowering cactus.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, blooms once a year in Sarasota.

"Selenicereus, Selene, was the Greek Goddess of the moon," Mike McLaughlin, Selby Gardens' Senior VP of Horticulture said.

On Thursday night, Selby Gardens held a viewing party for people to watch the cactus bloom.

What they're saying:

"It flowers at night to attract a certain kind of pollinator in its native habitat of the Caribbean and Mexico," McLaughlin said. "So, the things that pollinate this, we don't have here in Florida. But they would be leaf-nosed bats or hawk moths."

Some people have come out to watch it in years past, while others watched it bloom in person for the first time.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, blooms once a year in Sarasota.

"They're just amazing, how beautiful they are," Stephanie Christie, who came out to watch the blooms, said. "It's something that, if you take a look at the pictures, it's not the same as being here and noticing how really large those blossoms are when they open up."

When people learned that the cactus would bloom on Thursday night, they wanted to see it in person for the first time.

"Well, we tried it virtually last year and I think it's a lot different being in person," Ann Marie Kuffer, who came to watch the bloom, said.

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The cactus contains hundreds of buds, which start to bloom right after the sun sets.

"To happen so quickly, and they're spectacular," Christie said. "That's the other thing. They are just beautiful flowers."

McLaughlin says the bloom happens in about 30 minutes and lasts through the night.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, blooms once a year in Sarasota.

"They'll go all the way from the bud to all the way open," he said. "The flowers can be quite large. They'll be six to eight inches in diameter."

Jennifer Rominiecki, the President and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, says they've been hosting a viewing party for the bloom for many years.

"To see hundreds of people come to watch a plant and watch Mother Nature do her thing," Rominiecki said.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, blooms once a year in Sarasota.

People lined up to take photos of the cactus in full bloom, because it doesn't last long.

"At dawn, when the sun comes up, those flowers will start closing up," McLaughlin said.

He says there can sometimes be smaller, partial blooms in the few nights to follow, but the full bloom only happens once.

The "Queen of the Night", also known as Selenicereus pteranthus, blooms once a year in Sarasota.

"It's just a really neat process," Margaret Ida, who came out to watch the bloom, said. "When else do we ever see something like this, right?"

McLaughlin says it's hard to predict exactly when the "Queen of the Night" will bloom each year.

"We know in early June it'll bloom, but when specifically, we don't know," he said. "Of course, for us all week, we've been trying to time it, trying to guess, 'What night will it go?'. And it's very difficult to predict. It's really only the morning of the bloom, you know, 'Oh yes, this will bloom.'"

What you can do:

You can learn more about the "Queen of the Night" by clicking here.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kylie Jones.

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