It's a dark night in June and Jerry Estruth is following his nose through the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Camera in hand, he's tracing the unmistakable sweet scent of the Peniocereus greggii, a cactus better known as “Queen of the Night.” The plant looks like a pile of twigs most of the year, but for just one to two nights every summer it opens up to reveal fragrant, silky blooms. Desert plant enthusiasts like Estruth stay out all night to capture the event on film.
“It's a big deal,” he says, “with the papers and TV covering the developing story.” But Estruth isn't just looking for a pretty picture. He belongs to the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, a group that rescues cacti from the threat of development. The organization has transplanted 40,000 plants in the past four years.
—JOHN MAAS, '08
