Specimen · N°006 · Desert · ▶ Film
Nebulanthus atacamensis
Hourglass Flower
In the driest desert on earth, a flower blooms for only minutes.
FOUND 24.5°S 70.4°W · Coastal terrace of the Atacama Desert · ✝ EX · Last seen 1979
In the driest desert on earth, a flower blooms for only minutes.
A cushion-forming perennial about 5–9 cm tall. Grey-green leaves covered in fine silver hairs spread low and dense over the ground. Each plant bears a single white saucer flushed with pink, which opens only for the few minutes the fog touches it and quietly closes when the fog leaves.
Film coming soon
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It blooms only the few minutes the fog passes.
Miss those minutes, and the flower has already closed.
The Atacama, the driest desert on earth.
On gravel touched by fog climbing from the sea, the Hourglass Flower appears.
Clad in fine silver hairs, it spreads over the ground like a low cushion.
When fog touches its leaves, a white saucer flower opens, flushed with pink.
