Birth flower for August 15
Moonflower
Meaning: memories of the night
Moonflower opens at dusk, and you can watch the spiral bud unfurl in just a few minutes; by the next morning it has closed. It is pollinated by night-flying hawk moths, which is why the bloom is so white and fragrant. In Japan it is often confused with yugao, the bottle gourd flower, though the two are not closely related. In Taiwan it also grows wild in the lowlands.