‘Owl’s Eye’: Thailand’s oddest flower set for rare appearance
Botanists and tourists flock to a Tak wildlife sanctuary to catch a glimpse of the bizarre Thismia thaithongiana
One of the rarest and strangest-looking plants in Thailand is about to poke its head above the soil for its annual appearance in a remote forest on the eastern border with Myanmar.
The Thismia thaithongiana was discovered growing on the slopes of Doi Hua Mot, Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province in 2018.
Tourists and botanists are now scouring the sanctuary’s forest floor to catch sight of this bizarre owl-shaped plant, which glows green and goes by the Thai name of Phisawong Thaithong or Phisawong Owl’s Eye.
Thismia thaithongiana is a parasitic plant that feeds on fungi, blooming just once a year at the end of the rainy season in October.
It is only found under or near dwarf date palms, which host the fungus on which it depends.
T. thaithongiana spends most of the year underground as a rhizome, sending up a tiny stem around 2 millimetres long at the end of the rains. The tip of this stem blooms into one of nature’s most peculiar-looking flowers, appearing either singly or, occasionally, in pairs or clusters.
The flower consists of six green petals, or tepals, arranged in two distinct rings. The outer ring contains three independent tepals with horn-like appendages at the tips, while the inner ring features three fused tepals with similar horn-like structures, giving the flower a unique cap-like appearance.
The ovary is positioned beneath the tepals and contains a single chamber. Mature fruits and seeds have yet to be discovered due to the plant's short blooming period during the rainy season, making it difficult to track.
Thismia thaithongiana was named in honour of Obchant Thaithong, an associate professor in the Department of Botany at Chulalongkorn University.
