Totem pole cactus (Lophocereus schottii forma monstrosus) usually doesn’t bloom very much, and when it does, the flowers appear to be sterile. I am actually not sure if they would set fruits or not however since all of the plants I grow are clones from a single yard in Phoenix that I salvaged about 12 or 13 years ago, so there are no cross-pollination options in any case. But one thing that the monstrose form of this plant does that the normal forms (commonly called senita cactus) do not is to have cresting areoles and sometimes as many as 6 to 8 flowers erupting out of each areole. The faded pinkish flowers aren’t much to look at compared to so many cactus species, but they are a bonus feature some years on an otherwise vegetatively interesting plant.
In some segments of certain stems, like at the bottom of the photo, the areoles are elongated by several inches.
The areole in the center of the photo has at least 6 buds emerging from it. Most cactus areoles produce just one flower in most species.
Some areoles are a relatively normal size, while others are several times larger and wider than normal. As with most cacti, flowers are short-lived, remaining open only one to two days.
Interesting. I have one and didn’t know the knobs were flowers. I kept pinching them off. I’ll let it grow this time!