Blooming Cactus

This morning my mum told me that one of our cactuses had unexpectedly put forth a rather large, pretty, pink flower. I took some photos this morning and by the time the sun had moved this afternoon and left it in the shade, the flower had closed a bit.

It is a common trait for cactus and other plants in arid areas to have flowers that bloom only for a short amount of time. Although often they are night bloomers. We have a plant that puts out flowers that bloom for a few hours at night, sending forth the most amazing scent. As it is rather a mature plant now, sometimes it is weighed down with flowers. I think it's either called 'Queen of the Night' or 'Dutchman's Pipe', due to the shape of the flower when it's ready to bloom. Don't know whether I'll be here this summer when they are in blossom though. I might dig out some old photos.

I'm usually not a very good photographer and for some reason, they've shrunk since I put them together, but here are some shots of the cactus's flower - I don't know what type it is.