Crayfish impatiens has been rediscovered in a national forest park in Shuangpai County, Hunan Province. (File photo)
(ECNS) -- A flower species with a history of 100 million years was found in a national forest park in Shuangpai County, Central China's Hunan Province, local media reported.
The species impatiens, also known as patience and touch-me-not in the West, resemble the appearance of freshwater lobsters. It's a kind of annual plant with beautiful blossoms that carpet an area about 1,000 meters long on Yangming Mountain.
Known locally as crayfish impatiens, it is one of the earliest flowering plants on earth with a history dating back 100 million years. It once was widely distributed on the planet, but went extinct in most areas.
The blossoms are yellow, red, and purple. Waving in wind, the flower looks like a frisky crayfish, creating an attraction for visitors.
The mountain has about 600 individual plants of the species of impatiens.
