Bakawali - Flash In A Pan

Epiphyllum oxypetalum (Dutchman's Pipe,Night Queen,Night blooming Cereus or Gul-e-Bakawali) is a species of cactus. The Chinese idiom 曇花一現 (tan hua yi xian) uses this flower (tan-hua; 曇花) to describe someone who has an impressive but very brief moment of glory, like a "flash in a pan", since the flower can take a year to bloom and only blooms over a single night. Therefore someone described as "曇花一現" is generally understood to be a person who shows off or unexpectedly gains some achievement and is thought to be an exception or only lucky.

Once in a blue moon, Mak's Bakawali will flower. Supposedly it is quite difficult to bloom but since I joined the family, Mak's plant had bloomed 4 times. But we have to see the bloom at midnight... which is a treat for me. It is not just an amazingly beautiful flower but it smells great. If you are patient enough, you get to see it opens up. It takes about half an hour to open from a bud to a full bloom flower.

Ibu  had this picture taken from Datin Zuraidah's plant a year ago. Ayah MMS it to me.