Latest news with #QueenoftheNight
Time of India
03-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
10 rare flowers that bloom once in a lifetime
I n the world of plants, there exist flowers so extraordinary that they bloom once in their lifetime, captivating the hearts of botanists, flower enthusiasts, and nature lovers. These rare blooms are often shrouded in mystery and admiration, symbolising the fragility of life, the cycle of nature, and the profound transformation that can occur in the plant world. These rare blooms remind us of the fleeting nature of life, the patience required to witness something truly extraordinary, and the incredible diversity of life on Earth. Whether they bloom after decades, these once-in-a-lifetime flowers leave a lasting impression on anyone who witnesses their brief and beautiful transformation. Flowers around the world that appear only once 1. The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) This flower blooms once every 7-10 years, emitting a foul odor that resembles rotting flesh, attracting carrion-eating beetles and flies that pollinate it. The bloom itself is enormous, with the central spadix reaching up to 10 feet tall, lasting only 48-72 hours before wilting away. 2. The queen of the night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) This striking cactus species blooms once a year, overnight, releasing its large, white, fragrant flowers that wilt by dawn. The Queen of the Night's brief bloom is highly anticipated by gardeners and enthusiasts, symbolizing mystery, beauty, and fleeting moments of grace. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software Esseps Learn More Undo 3. The jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) Native to the Philippines, this rare flower blooms once every few years, showcasing vibrant turquoise-colored flowers that resemble a cluster of hanging orchids. The Jade Vine requires specific growing conditions, making it extremely difficult to cultivate outside of its native environment. 4. The century plant (Agave americana) This plant blooms only once in its lifetime, usually after 10-30 years, producing a massive flower spike that can grow up to 30 feet tall. The plant's rare and majestic bloom symbolizes endurance, patience, and the eventual reward of life's most extraordinary moments. 5. The chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus) With its dark maroon to deep burgundy color and distinctive chocolate scent, this flower blooms once every few years, making it a rare and sought-after sight. The Chocolate Cosmos is often grown in botanical gardens and by enthusiasts who eagerly await its extraordinary bloom. 6. The talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera) This extraordinary tree blooms only once in its lifetime, producing an enormous, showy flower cluster that can reach up to 15 feet in height. After blooming, the tree dies, completing its life cycle and symbolizing nature's powerful yet transitory rhythms. 7. The night-blooming cereus (Selenicereus grandiflorus) This cactus species blooms once a year, overnight, releasing its large, white, fragrant flowers that attract nocturnal pollinators. The Night-Blooming Cereus is a favorite among gardeners and flower enthusiasts, symbolizing mystery and spiritual transformation 8. The ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) One of the rarest and elusive orchids in the world, the Ghost Orchid blooms once a year, but its timing is notoriously unpredictable. This orchid is a symbol of patience, beauty, and the fragility of nature, sought after by enthusiasts and collectors. 9. The ylang-ylang tree (Cananga odorata) Famous for its intensely fragrant yellow flowers, the Ylang-Ylang tree blooms infrequently, often only once every few years. The flowers are used in perfume production, symbolizing sensuality, romance, and the intoxicating power of nature. 10. The ghost flower (Monotropastrum humile) This unique, non-photosynthetic flower lacks chlorophyll and appears ghostly white, blooming once every few years in shaded forest areas. The Ghost Flower is a symbol of the mysterious and hidden aspects of nature, often linked with the supernatural in folklore. Also read | Make your home smell amazing all day long with reed diffusers, scented candles, and pet-friendly scents
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Five Books That Will Redirect Your Attention
Boredom can sometimes feel like a bygone luxury in an age of screens and constant distractions—yet even with all the content in the world at our fingertips, tedium manages to creep in. Not only does it sneak up on us in waiting rooms or on airplanes; we also encounter it while scrolling idly at home. In the face of repetitive Instagram posts, cookie-cutter TV episodes, and exhausting group chats, the mind goes blank just as reliably as it might while staring out of a window. There's nothing peaceful about this mental stillness; as the day lengthens, so does the ennui. The experience of sitting around, tired and irritated, with nothing to do, may be character building, or even healthy (studies show that it can be beneficial to developing creativity). But the process is notoriously uncomfortable: Medieval monks referred to the feeling that boredom provoked as acedia and attempted to pray it away. Charles Dickens popularized the phrase bored to death in Bleak House, when the weary Lady Dedlock complains that she's on the verge of expiring for lack of excitement. The avant-garde Situationists in mid-20th-century Paris proclaimed 'Boredom is counterrevolutionary' and turned this phrase into a rallying cry. Contemporary sufferers tend to opt for some form of immersive entertainment. For those who might turn to a book, not just any one will do. Sometimes the listless mind craves action, adventure, and drama, but propulsive page-turners aren't the only way to dispel dullness. Plot twists or surprising facts can do the trick too; at times, a radically strange narrator or a weirdly compelling story is what we need. The following titles provide many ways out of malaise, each as distinctive as the varieties of boredom from which they offer sweet relief. , by Alexander Chee Chee has said that he spent 15 years writing his 2016 novel, although readers are likely to finish it in a flash—it's too much fun not to speed through. Named after the famously difficult 'Queen of the Night' aria from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, the book follows a 19th-century American, Lilliet Berne, as she makes her way from the Midwest to a New York circus and then a Parisian brothel, finally reaching the heights of French society as an opera singer and courtesan. Along the way, she witnesses the rise and fall of the revolutionary Paris Commune, flies in a hot-air balloon, and wears an enormous amount of sumptuously described dresses. This is the kind of writing to pick up when you need to lose yourself for an afternoon inside a world radically different from your own. It is also the perfect story for readers who enjoy a little high drama that, at times, borders on camp—as is so often the case in opera. , by Peter Cornell (translated by Saskia Vogel) Cornell's book-length essay begins with a note claiming that what follows is a manuscript constructed by a researcher at the National Library of Sweden. Regardless of its actual provenance, The Ways of Paradise became something of an underground classic in the four decades before it was published in English last year. The text is structured in a series of numbered fragments, reflecting a larger fixation on spirals and mazes of all kinds—the curl of a seashell, mimicking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage's focus on eternity, or the 'ephemeral labyrinthine traces made by the folds and creases of garments'—and drawing parallels among a swath of disciplines and time periods. Burbling beneath its torrent of information is an occult murmur, even a mild paranoia: To what end are we all connected, and what do these connections mean? Although Cornell doesn't offer his audience much of an explanation, his slow deluge of intertwined facts and stories makes it hard to stop reading. Imagine this as the holy book of a new cult devoted to the spiritual possibilities of the spiral. [Read: The transcendent brain] , by Bae Suah (translated by Deborah Smith) The page-turning plot twists and thrills of a detective novel are often a very effective bulwark against boredom. The Korean writer Bae's novel offers those genre pleasures and more: It is, as Bae's longtime translator Deborah Smith explains in her note, a detective novel by way of a 'poetic fever dream.' Set over the course of one very hot summer night in Seoul, the book follows a woman named Ayami as she attempts to find a missing friend. As she searches, she bumps into Wolfi, a detective novelist visiting from Germany, and enlists him in her quest. Events take on a surreal quality, heightened by both an intense heat wave and the possibility that Ayami and Wolfi may have stumbled into another dimension. Summer's release from our usual timetables can quickly lead to seasonal doldrums. Untold Night and Day, set during the stretched hours of a sweaty, unceasing evening, shimmers at its edges, like midnight in July. , by Simone de Beauvoir (translated by Carol Cosman) America Day by Day chronicles the four-month-long trip through the United States that the French existentialist de Beauvoir embarked on in January 1947, a journey filled with mishaps, misunderstandings, and moments of joy. De Beauvoir attends parties in New York, gambles in Nevada, listens to a lot of jazz in New Orleans, finds herself confused by San Francisco, smokes marijuana for the first time, and gives a series of lectures at colleges across the nation. Although the author encountered an America still unsure of itself after the violence of World War II, many of her observations feel strikingly relevant in 2025. Between American men and women, she detects 'a mutual mistrust,' for example—their 'lack of generosity, and a rancor that's often sexual in origin' could easily be found in the present. Many of the pages documenting travels through the Jim Crow–era South dwell on the disquieting gap between the U.S. Constitution's focus on freedom and the realities of racial segregation. By the time de Beauvoir gets to Chicago, however, her mood improves, and sharp-eyed readers might notice why: There, she meets the writer Nelson Algren, who gives her a tour of the city—and, though it remains unmentioned in the text, the pair later fall in love. [Read: The philosopher who took happiness seriously] , by Lydia Sandgren (translated by Agnes Broomé) Like fellow Scandinavian Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle, to which it's been compared, the Swedish writer Sandgren's Collected Works exerts a hypnotic pull on the reader over its hundreds of pages. Following the publisher of a small press, Martin Berg, as he turns 50, Collected Works initially seems to resemble a reverse bildungsroman, as Martin ponders his youth in Gothenburg, his own thwarted artistic ambitions, and his friendship with Gustav, a painter. But there's a mystery at work here too: Why did Martin's wife, Cecilia, a promising academic, abandon him and their young children years ago? Alternating between past and present—and Martin's and Cecilia's points of view (as well as, eventually, their daughter's)—Sandgren creates a more complicated portrait of a modern marriage than the book's premise might suggest. As the reader absorbs with horror the growing stockpile of Martin's betrayals over the years, Sandgren probes questions of gender, success, and ambition, creating a portrait of a man and a woman fundamentally at odds that keeps its reader spellbound. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
What to Read When You're Bored
Boredom can sometimes feel like a bygone luxury in an age of screens and constant distractions—yet even with all the content in the world at our fingertips, tedium manages to creep in. Not only does it sneak up on us in waiting rooms or on airplanes; we also encounter it while scrolling idly at home. In the face of repetitive Instagram posts, cookie-cutter TV episodes, and exhausting group chats, the mind goes blank just as reliably as it might while staring out of a window. There's nothing peaceful about this mental stillness; as the day lengthens, so does the ennui. The experience of sitting around, tired and irritated, with nothing to do, may be character building, or even healthy (studies show that it can be beneficial to developing creativity). But the process is notoriously uncomfortable: Medieval monks referred to the feeling that boredom provoked as acedia and attempted to pray it away. Charles Dickens popularized the phrase bored to death in Bleak House, when the weary Lady Dedlock complains that she's on the verge of expiring for lack of excitement. The avant-garde Situationists in mid-20th-century Paris proclaimed 'Boredom is counterrevolutionary' and turned this phrase into a rallying cry. Contemporary sufferers tend to opt for some form of immersive entertainment. For those who might turn to a book, not just any one will do. Sometimes the listless mind craves action, adventure, and drama, but propulsive page-turners aren't the only way to dispel dullness. Plot twists or surprising facts can do the trick too; at times, a radically strange narrator or a weirdly compelling story is what we need. The following titles provide many ways out of malaise, each as distinctive as the varieties of boredom from which they offer sweet relief. The Queen of the Night, by Alexander Chee Chee has said that he spent 15 years writing his 2016 novel, although readers are likely to finish it in a flash—it's too much fun not to speed through. Named after the famously difficult 'Queen of the Night' aria from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, the book follows a 19th-century American, Lilliet Berne, as she makes her way from the Midwest to a New York circus and then a Parisian brothel, finally reaching the heights of French society as an opera singer and courtesan. Along the way, she witnesses the rise and fall of the revolutionary Paris Commune, flies in a hot-air balloon, and wears an enormous amount of sumptuously described dresses. This is the kind of writing to pick up when you need to lose yourself for an afternoon inside a world radically different from your own. It is also the perfect story for readers who enjoy a little high drama that, at times, borders on camp—as is so often the case in opera. The Ways of Paradise, by Peter Cornell (translated by Saskia Vogel) Cornell's book-length essay begins with a note claiming that what follows is a manuscript constructed by a researcher at the National Library of Sweden. Regardless of its actual provenance, The Ways of Paradise became something of an underground classic in the four decades before it was published in English last year. The text is structured in a series of numbered fragments, reflecting a larger fixation on spirals and mazes of all kinds—the curl of a seashell, mimicking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage's focus on eternity, or the 'ephemeral labyrinthine traces made by the folds and creases of garments'—and drawing parallels among a swath of disciplines and time periods. Burbling beneath its torrent of information is an occult murmur, even a mild paranoia: To what end are we all connected, and what do these connections mean? Although Cornell doesn't offer his audience much of an explanation, his slow deluge of intertwined facts and stories makes it hard to stop reading. Imagine this as the holy book of a new cult devoted to the spiritual possibilities of the spiral. Untold Night and Day, by Bae Suah (translated by Deborah Smith) The page-turning plot twists and thrills of a detective novel are often a very effective bulwark against boredom. The Korean writer Bae's novel offers those genre pleasures and more: It is, as Bae's longtime translator Deborah Smith explains in her note, a detective novel by way of a 'poetic fever dream.' Set over the course of one very hot summer night in Seoul, the book follows a woman named Ayami as she attempts to find a missing friend. As she searches, she bumps into Wolfi, a detective novelist visiting from Germany, and enlists him in her quest. Events take on a surreal quality, heightened by both an intense heat wave and the possibility that Ayami and Wolfi may have stumbled into another dimension. Summer's release from our usual timetables can quickly lead to seasonal doldrums. Untold Night and Day, set during the stretched hours of a sweaty, unceasing evening, shimmers at its edges, like midnight in July. America Day by Day, by Simone de Beauvoir (translated by Carol Cosman) America Day by Day chronicles the four-month-long trip through the United States that the French existentialist de Beauvoir embarked on in January 1947, a journey filled with mishaps, misunderstandings, and moments of joy. De Beauvoir attends parties in New York, gambles in Nevada, listens to a lot of jazz in New Orleans, finds herself confused by San Francisco, smokes marijuana for the first time, and gives a series of lectures at colleges across the nation. Although the author encountered an America still unsure of itself after the violence of World War II, many of her observations feel strikingly relevant in 2025. Between American men and women, she detects 'a mutual mistrust,' for example—their 'lack of generosity, and a rancor that's often sexual in origin' could easily be found in the present. Many of the pages documenting travels through the Jim Crow–era South dwell on the disquieting gap between the U.S. Constitution's focus on freedom and the realities of racial segregation. By the time de Beauvoir gets to Chicago, however, her mood improves, and sharp-eyed readers might notice why: There, she meets the writer Nelson Algren, who gives her a tour of the city—and, though it remains unmentioned in the text, the pair later fall in love. Collected Works, by Lydia Sandgren (translated by Agnes Broomé) Like fellow Scandinavian Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle, to which it's been compared, the Swedish writer Sandgren's Collected Works exerts a hypnotic pull on the reader over its hundreds of pages. Following the publisher of a small press, Martin Berg, as he turns 50, Collected Works initially seems to resemble a reverse bildungsroman, as Martin ponders his youth in Gothenburg, his own thwarted artistic ambitions, and his friendship with Gustav, a painter. But there's a mystery at work here too: Why did Martin's wife, Cecilia, a promising academic, abandon him and their young children years ago? Alternating between past and present—and Martin's and Cecilia's points of view (as well as, eventually, their daughter's)—Sandgren creates a more complicated portrait of a modern marriage than the book's premise might suggest. As the reader absorbs with horror the growing stockpile of Martin's betrayals over the years, Sandgren probes questions of gender, success, and ambition, creating a portrait of a man and a woman fundamentally at odds that keeps its reader spellbound.
Time Out
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Mozart's opera ‘The Magic Flute' is coming to Hong Kong
Hong Kong's first professional opera company, Opera Hong Kong (OHK), will present a contemporary rendition of The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last opera before his death and a staple in the global operatic repertoire. Director Shuang Zou has reinterpreted this two-part opera with a modern stage setting, embellished by costumes from renowned designer Dan Potra. The original storyline follows Prince Tamino as he gets sent on a quest by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina, armed with a flute that can transform sorrow into joy. Opera Hong Kong's new iteration of the 1791 classic is set in the modern city, and begins in an MTR station – sounds like it will be a quirky, fantastical journey as the characters travel between reality and dreams to achieve their happily ever afters. Mexican-German tenor Andrés Moreno García stars as Prince Tamino, while Pamina will be played by American soprano Sofia Troncoso, and the iconic Queen of the Night by Russian soprano Aigul Khismatullina. We can't wait to hear her perform the famously challenging 'Der Hölle Rache' aria! The production will be a collaboration between Opera Hong Kong, China National Opera House, and the State Opera South Australia, joined by the children's chorus of OHK, and promises to be a splendid audio-visual feast. After premiering in Hong Kong, the show will then go on to an international tour, so be the first to see it on stage.
The Star
25-04-2025
- Science
- The Star
QuickCheck: Is there a flower that blooms only once a year?
FLOWERS are lovely (unless you're allergic to pollen). Whether for a celebration of gratitude, love, birthdays, or anniversaries, they are often gifted to others and bloom throughout the year or in accordance with the seasons. However, is it true that there is a flower that blooms only once a year? Verdict: TRUE The Queen of the Night (QotN), which is also known by its scientific name, Epiphyllum oxypetalum, is a Night-Blooming Cereus, a cactus species with large, white flowers that bloom at night. It is native to southern Mexico and can be found in most parts of Central America and northern South America. While these other flowers bloom at night several times a year, the QotN blooms only for a single night each year, which falls in late spring or early summer (between May and June). The cactus can grow up to 3 metres in height, and its flower is large, usually measuring up to 30cm long and 20cm in diameter. The fragrant flower blooms after sunset and lasts only one night before it withers by dawn. These cacti in the same location would all bloom simultaneously, increasing their chances of cross-pollination. Scientists believe that the cacti use a form of chemical communication to synchronise the blooms. Perhaps next time you want to compliment someone, you could use this flower as an example (ie: a rare friend like you appears as rare as the bloom of the QotN). REFERENCES: visit/ecology/flora/night- blooming-cereus/ com/queen-of-the-night/ plant/epiphyllum-oxypetalum
