Epiphyllum oxypetalum is a very interesting and unique plant. It belongs to Family Cactaceae. It is commonly known as Night blooming Cactus, Queen of the night, Lady of the night as its beautiful Lotus like flower blooms late night. It is popularly known as Orchid Cactus as the flower has orchid like beauty and plant resembles cactus in habit.

In the evening of July 2, some staff members of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) watched blossoming of orchid cactus within the garden.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum plant is native to Sri lanka where it is known as Kaduphul,it is believed that plant blooms rarely and that too late night. The plant flowers generally in rainy season from mid June to mid October. It has diverse distribution and grows wild in tropical rain forests. It has diverse distribution and grows wild in tropical rain forests. Epiphyllums are indeed true cacti, but are more often labeled as "Epicacti" or "jungle cacti" to differentiate them from related desert flora.

Orchid cactus flower starts blooming after sunset from 7 p m onwards and takes about two hours to full bloom, and remain open through out night. It closes in the morning before sunrise appears, drooping on long stalks. Since the flowers are predominantly pollinated by bats and large moths, they have large pure white star-like flowers with lovely fragrance to help their pollinators locate the blossoms by moon or star light.

In China, its flowers and stems can be used medicinally. Flowers are said to be functional in clearing the lung for suppressing cough, cooling blood and relieving hemorrhage and nourishing the heart for calming the mental state. And the stems can clear heat-toxin.