Ready, steady, bloom! Botanists wait for rare cactus to open for one night only

Experts in Cambridge are on night vigil as the moonflower is about to blossom in a UK first, an event being livestreamed for all

Cambridge botanists are eagerly waiting for a rare and unusual cactus called the moonflower to bloom for what is thought to be the first time in the UK, an event that begins at sunset and is over by the time the sun rises the following day.

Experts at Cambridge University's Botanic Garden (CUBG) have been on night watch for several days, even setting up a live stream so the public can get a glimpse of the flowering of the Amazonian plant Selenicereus wittii.