How is flowering in such plants triggered by the lunar cycle?
• Plants like Selenicereus flower at night, when temperatures are low and the creatures that pollinate them are about. A white flower opening at night is highly visible, particularly with a full moon to illuminate it, so nocturnal flowering makes sense in evolutionary terms. There is also good evidence to suggest that plants sense the length of the night-time and that these periods trigger flowering. Therefore “interrupting” the night with a bright light such as a full moon could have an effect on flowering in plants. But I know of no scientific studies that have shown this to be the case.
