What is the flower language and meaning of the cactus (ball cactus)?

The flower language of the cactus

The flower language of the cactus: strength, and seeing love through to the end.

The legend of the cactus

Legend has it that this cactus did not originally bloom, nor did it have the sharp spines all over its body as it does now. It was just a green ball, very unremarkable, yet with an unusually stubborn and tenacious vitality, able to stay lush and green even in the barren, dry desert, adorning the earth.

There was a plantation owner who loved flowers very much. He sought out many rare and precious flowers from all over the world and brought them back to his estate, set up a greenhouse and specifically hired a gardener to cultivate them. No one knew quite how it happened, but a cactus was brought back too, perhaps someone had casually pulled one from the desert ground on a whim. The gardener did not know what this thing was either. Seeing that it was lush and green, as if it still had life in it, he found a flower pot, shoveled in some soil, and placed it in a corner of the greenhouse as well.

Those brilliantly colorful, gracefully delicate flowers bloomed in competition with one another, a truly beautiful sight, and the villagers from the surrounding estates all vied to come and visit. Those beautiful flowers gradually grew proud, and began to mock the humble, unnoticed cactus, believing it did not deserve to be in the same greenhouse as them. The cactus was furious too, and its stubborn temper flared up again. It puffed itself up and desperately tried to grow flower buds outward, but no buds came out; instead, one sharp spine after another grew, and it was mocked all the more.

But the cactus simply refused to believe in bad luck, and worked even harder instead, until its whole body was covered in sharp spines. It just so happened that a flower fairy from the heavens passed by and saw this. She too was overcome and moved by the cactus's unyielding spirit. She pointed her flower wand at the cactus, and immediately instilled a precious flower seed into it. At this moment the cactus finally grew flower buds and bloomed with a flower that no one in the world would dare look down upon, delicate and captivating! Those flowers that had mocked it all widened their eyes in astonishment, and all closed their mouths of mockery!

Because that flower seed was bestowed by the flower fairy, it naturally also received a beautiful flower name——cactus!