Youtan Poluo Flower Facts & Photos, Rarest Flower on Earth

Youtan Poluo: Flowers of Many Stories

Asia is a land of legends.  Imbibing so many fascinating tales, it is home to beliefs and miracle. And one such miracle is Youtan Poluo.

Origin:

While there have been several internet hoax regarding the sighting of Youtan Poluo, this parasitic tiny flower was actually found growing in Viet Linh on an aroid palm leaf. Botanists are still not able to find out if the plant is a moss or fungus. The Youtan Poluo or Udambara of Ficus racemosa measures just 1mm in diameter and is known to emit mild yet noticeable sandalwood-like fragrance.

People also misunderstand and confuse Youtan Poluo with the eggs of lacewings that lay eggs in thread-like structures. This helps the insect to keep the eggs apart, preventing cannibalism in the newly hatched eggs.  However, one of the recent sightings of the flower in the year 2010 was reported by a Chinese nun in Jiangxi province. Miao Wei found these white flowers growing under the washing machine during cleaning.  At first she thought them to be the eggs of lacewings but by the next day, she claimed that flowers were bloomed and fragrant.

Quite delicate and fragile in appearance, the flowers are parasitic, and dependent on other leaf for food. And hence, have quite impressive lifespan.

Since much is not known about the flowers, here is some fun information for you to read on!

Trivia:

• Believed to bloom only in every 3,000 years, it is said to mark the arrival of a royal king. According to the Buddhist scriptures, these flowers symbolize immortality. It is also said that these rare flowers are the symbol of reincarnation of none other than the royal king, Lord Buddha himself. A native to China, its local name is Udumbara.
• Not just in China, Indian folklores also have similar stories doing round, precisely about the incarnation of a sage king that interestingly also point towards Lord Buddha.
• Udumabara in Sanskrit means, an auspicious flowers descending from the heaven.
• These white flowers have also been seen on the head of Buddha statue at Chonggye-sa Temple, which is situated in Seoul. The priests at local Chinese temples believe that the white flowers are in fact specimen of the pious and miraculous Youtan Poluo flowers.
• The flower’s discovery was also in news when an Internet document by the Chinese government was leaked online. There were clear orders to wipe out every piece of news that was related to the flowers and its occurrence as according to Chinese officials, it propagated and encouraged superstitions!