Rare Buddhist flower found under nuns washing machine

Published: 1:33PM GMT 01 March 2010

Rarely seen Buddhist Udumbara flowers, that freshness each 3,000 years, was found underneath a washing appurtenance in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi province, China Photo: REX

The Udumbara flowering plant was found in the home of a Chinese nun in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi province, China.

The singular Youtan Poluo or Udumbara flower, which, according to Buddhist legend, usually blooms each 3,000 years, measures only 1mm in diametre.

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Miao Wei, 50, was cleaning when she detected the cluster of white flowering plants underneath the washing machine.

At initial she thought the barely-there stems were worm eggs, however, the subsequent day she detected that the stems had grown eighteen white little flowering plants on tip and smelled "fragrant".

Local temples hold the mini blooms are specimens of the supernatural Youtan Poluo flowering plant - called "Udumbara" or "Udambara" in Sanskrit, definition "an portentous flowering plant from heaven."