demanded that Thorngood credit It is the simple things in life that make us the happiest. After diligently searching for 13 long years, a biologist finally discovered the world's rarest flower. The finding was emotional, as the biologist erupted into tears over finally bearing witness to this incredible plant.
Biologist Finally Finds World's Rarest Flower
This man's dedication inspires me. Imagine being so captivated by something that you spend over a decade searching for it. It is no wonder that the moment was emotional for him. The University of Oxford shared a video of the moment on Instagram. In their caption, they shared that the world's rarest flower is Rafflesia hasseltii, a species of giant parasitic red flower. While it is not necessarily a flower you would want to trim and put in a vase on your dining table, it is most definitely spectacular. What makes this flower so unique is that it has been "seen by more tigers than people." Luckily for Dr. Chris Thorngood, an Associate Professor of Biology at Oxford University, his fellow biologist knew just where to look.
While Thorogood and the team "trekked day and night" through tiger-filled rainforests, this was nothing new for the Indonesian flower hunter Septian "Deki" Andrikithat. He had spent the last 13 years of his life trekking all over for a chance to glimpse this impressive flower. Naturally, when he finally got to witness the world's rarest flower, he broke down in tears. In the video, Thorngood can be seen conforing Andrikithat as he begins sobbing at the incredible find.
"Moments like these are electric," Thorngood said when speaking to The Post. "The trek was tough, and the flower so special that we were quite emotional about it."
The People Of The Internet Were Also Emotional
The people of the internet were also emotional, although not in the way that I was expecting. When reading the comments under this post, I expected to find many congratulations - yet that was not the case. The first dozen or so comments were all demanding that Thorngood give credit to the Indonesian biologist who discovered the flower. Here is an example of one of the comments left underneath the video.
"And let's be clear: Chris, Oxford prof (whoever he is) is not part of the research team. There was a joint Indonesia-Philippines project to study Rafflesia and the Indonesian scientists were the ones who knew when and where the flower would bloom. Chris only joined because he wanted to see it. He did not contribute to the scientific research.Yet Oxford University chose to highlight him, while the real Indonesian researchers: Septian Andiriki, Joko Wistono, and Iswandi were BARELY mentioned or completely overshadowed smh."
Various comments underneath that one issued the same message. Apparently, when Oxford first shared the news about finding the world's rarest flower, they did not name the emotional flower hunter in the video. After receiving several comments like the one above, they edited the post. Now, it includes his name and information in the caption.
