Nyctinasty
Blossoms closing at night?
Blossoms opening during the day?
The Southwest Desert of the United States is a very harsh environment. Temperature soar during the Summer days up to one-hundred and twenty degrees. A one-hundred degree temperature during the day is average and normal. Cactus flowers here profusely during March and early April. The rainfall is extremely low most of the year so plants have adapted to conserve water loss due to heat and evaporation. The North American Monsoon is mapped and discussed at this link. One of the more unfamiliar methods that plants here in our desert use to conserve water is through nyctinasty. There is an article at Live Science
Reading about this process, nyctinasty, to gather information for this blog post, I learned that many plants exhibit this behavior living in many environments. Southwestern Desert cacti may be collapsing at night to conserve water in my opinion. Furthermore, the opening and closing of the blooms may be a way to maintain and regulate internal plant temperatures. I base my opinion on experience from gardening out here in the Mojave, and from the information I have read about the topic.
Nyctinasty during the early morning.
The flowers are closed in the morning and are closed by late afternoon.
Flowers open during mid-day
Known for blooming during the Easter Season, Peanut Cactus surely is beautiful.
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