Rare bloom for Wolffia Globosa, the world's smallest flowering plant

The plant, more commonly known as Asian watermeal, is so small that to the naked eye it is impossible to tell if it has flowered. It measures 0.1-0.2 mm in diameter and floats on water; it can usually be found in quiet streams and ponds.

Once the green pod shaped plant has grown flowers it will show a slight depression with either a green or white oval within it, it does not have petals. This summer around 40 per cent of the plants being kept at the Tsukuba botanical garden have bloomed.

Because it is so rarely in bloom - curators at Tsukuba said it had not flowered for at least 15 years - botanists are interested to see how the plant is pollinated and seeds are formed.

“I was deeply moved as I had been looking forward to seeing the flower in bloom for so long,” curator Norio Tanaka was quoted as saying by The Asahi Shimbun. “I intend to carefully observe how the plant is pollinated and seeds are formed because this is a rare opportunity.”

Wolffia Globosa can be found in its native Asia, Australia and parts of the Americas.

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