Beijing: The flower was found in the home of a Chinese nun in Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi province, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The Udumbara - apparently Sanskrit for an auspicious flower from heaven' - measures just 1 mm in diameter and is said to find mentions in Buddhist mythology on account of its supposed rarity.
The newspaper said Miao Wei, 50, discovered the white flower under her washing machine.
It said after mistaking its "barely-there stems" as worm eggs, she found that they had grown 18 white tiny flowers the next day and smelled "fragrant".
Local temples believe the mini blooms are specimens of the "miraculous" Udumbara.
-IANS
First Published: Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 00:31