Recently, when it became very cold one evening, every pot of flowers in our small garden was brought into the house.
At around 10 p.m., when I looked at the flowers, I was surprised to discover that one, Epiphyllum oxypetalum — the so-called Queen of the Night — was just in the process of blooming fully! It was an unbelievably pure snow white. Every member of our family gazed upon the four blossoms with rapture. This was our first time to see the flowers of the Queen of the Night and it gave us an everlasting impression.
Strangely enough, the flowers of this species stem from the leaves. And they bloom at night only (between sunset and midnight) and wither by dawn. And it is said that the flower of the Queen of the Night blooms one night only a year. I hear that the blossoming is closely related to the waxing and waning of the moon; it opens its flowers only at the time of the full moon. Yes, our blossoming did occur on the full-moon night.
It is impossible to fully describe with words the peculiar beauty of this flower. To appreciate it, we must experience it for ourselves, including its beautiful color and fragrance. Seeing is believing!
Flowers are pure and beautiful creations of nature, and they make our world beautiful. And they are our familiar friends. I would like to give my thanks to all the flowers, including our Queen of the Night.
Our world is filled with various flowering plant species. The Earth is a planet of flowers.
I cannot imagine our world without flowers. We are expected to cherish and protect our only planet of flowers, aren't we?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.