World News for Students of English

26-02-2021 15:00

A cactus blooms in a botanic garden in Cambridge, England, UK. Cactus usually grows in hot and dry places. It has thick green leaves with sharp ends.

This is a very special cactus. It usually grows in Central and South America. Only 13 botanic gardens in the world have this cactus. Its name is Selinecereus. Botanists call it ‘moonflower’.

Moonflower has beautiful, big flowers. The smell is very strong and sweet. Moonflower blooms for only one night.

Botanists from Cambridge watch the cactus all week. They do not sleep at night. They want to see the flower. When the cactus blooms, they are very happy. It happens for the first time in the UK.

The plant dies after a few hours. The smell changes. The flower smells like old food.

Difficult words: bloom (when a plant has flowers), botanic garden (a place where many different plants grow and people can come there and see them), botanist (a person who studies plants).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.