An Aristasian blog post on a flowering cactus elicited the following response which we feel may be of interest to our honored readers: I have been thinking about this question of cactus flowers. It is one, indeed, that was considered in a famous Tellurian poem: . Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Of course "desert" does not mean a dry sandy place, but the idea is the same! The thought that occurred to me is that the cactus is a plant of Sai Vikhe - in a way, she can be seen almost as the inverse of Sai Sushuri's rose. The rose's flower is her salient point, although her thorns are well known. With the cactus the thorns are the salient - dare I say point? But she also (at least in some cases) has a lovely flower. But only very briefly, and - at least in nature - largely hidden from the eye of the world (that is, from the world's axial being, maid). Sai Vikhe protects Sai Sushuri's flower with thorns, and Sai Sushuri blesses Sai Vikhe's plant with a lovely flower. In old Japan, the Samurai were often compared to the Sakura - the cherry blossom - because they were resplendent and beautiful in their nobility, but destined to bloom but briefly before being cut down. A similar analogy existed in the Motherlands during the perilous centuries following the death of Raihiranya Sai Rayanna. Never again would our whole civilization fall to the Outlander, but the knightly defenders of the Raihir led a dangerous life which rarely ended in a peaceful death. Sai Vikhe's flower blows but brief,
Yet blows exceeding fair.