Griffinia nocturna is a bulbous

Bulb

A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...

 species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 which is endemic to Brazil. Together with another closely related species, Griffinia gardneriana, it forms its own subgenus in the genus Griffinia

Griffinia

Griffinia is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the Amaryllidaceae family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It includes 21 species which are endemic to South America, Brazil. The most closely related genus to it is the monotypic Worsleya. The members of the genus Griffinia are tropical, bulbous plants...

named Hyline. A distinguishing feature of G. nocturna is that the flowers are white while almost all of the other members of the genus have lilac or blue flowers. They are scented, collected into an umbel

Umbel

An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....

. The plant blooms during the night and the flowers have already faded by the next day. The leaves are green and oblanceolate. Endemic to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, it grows in arid or semi-arid regions from central to northern Brazil, in zones known as caatingas.