Biology Professor Shares Fleeting – Yet Spectacular – Display of Nature
Published 06.18.2013
News
David L. Evans, professor of biology, offered PCToday a Tuesday peek at nature's fragile botanical beauty: a night-blooming cactus native to his Yuma County, Ariz., roots. It was a gift from the Evans' daughter about a decade ago, and has produced single flowers a few times over the past several years. Pollinated in the wild largely by bats drawn to its intoxicating fragrance, the plant exploded with six blooms Monday night – blossoms that would wilt and fade with prolonged exposure to the morning sun streaming through Evans’ second-floor office in the Hager Lifelong Education Center. (Until next year, that is, when the cactus renews its short-lived cause for celebration.)