The night-blooming flower cereus, also known as “la reina de la noche” or “queen of the night,” is indigenous to the Sonora region of Mexico and some areas of Arizona. During the day, the plant looks like ropy tangles of thin, serpentine cactus. After the sun sets,however, innocuous buds explode into enormous, white blossoms, strongly smelling of vanilla. The cereus flower lasts only a few hours of one night, wasting away before the sun rises again, never again to bloom. Cereus is inspired by the exotic, elusive desert flower for which it is named.