Our little cactus put out FIVE flowers yesterday

[hal]

The flowers from this thing are so fleeting. When the time is right, the flower will open in the early morning and start closing around noon (pic taken at about 11am). Then they die.

This little cactus started as tennis ball sized thing and is now filling this 16" pot, but this thing has never produced more than one flower/year - getting five blooms in one day is amazing.

[bfd]

All that energy expenditure for a the tiniest chance of reproduction. Cacti are exceptional plants.

[Thrift Store Scott]

bfd wrote:
All that energy expenditure for a the tiniest chance of reproduction. Cacti are exceptional plants.

I'm wondering if many species of cacti are capable of self-pollination. I'd imagine at least some would be, considering their native habitats, but I could be totally wrong about that.

The next time the cactus flowers with multiple blooms, if you have a Q-Tip handy give it a try and see if it "takes". It would be interesting to see what the fruit of that cactus looks like if nothing else.