Hideous orchid that just wants a one-night stand found

A flower that only opens in the hours of darkness has been found in the primeval forest of the New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea. Bulbophyllum nocturnum Perfect floral gift for a loved one, no? (Bulbophyllum nocturnum by Andre Schuiteman) Pollinated by moths, it was observed to open its petals at 10pm and shut them …

[Michael Nidd]

One step closer

And the research behind building a genuine Terry Pratchett flower clock continues.

[Ragarath]

It may be just me but my methodical mind would have put a camera pointing at one of them to see why the buds fell off.

Seems a bit of a lazy researcher can't be bothered to miss some sleep. Almost like studying hedgehogs in the day, or perhaps studying the sun at night (ok a bit over-dramatic but meh.)

Anyhow still nice to see new surprises in the world of science.

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

Should this not have been posted under "Open.... and shut"?

[Dodgy Geezer]

Pretty blatent...

"As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast. It is, therefore, increasingly important to obtain funding for the fieldwork required to make such discoveries."

As we all know, it's going to be nigh on impossible to get funding for jollies down to Brazil as the economy shrinks, so I'm getting my stake in now....

Beer for the main research aim of all the field workers I have known....

[Dave 62]

moths?

Pollinated by moths? Maybe you should read the beeeeebs report on this, they say otherwise and explain why.

[Wombling_Free]

Tap tap tap tap taptaptaptaptap

whoooosh! THWACK!

ARRRGH! My eyes! My eyes!

[Cliff]

Hideous?

Seems a bit harsh.

[gafisher]

"As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast."

One plucked orchid at a time.