The plant was discovered by Dutch researcher Ed de Vogel on the island of New Britain, which is off the coast of Papua New Guinea. He took some specimens back to his lab, but was puzzled as to why the orchid’s buds seemed to shrivel without flowering. When he took one home, he saw that the flower only opened at around 10pm, and that it only lasted for one night.

It is not known why the orchid only flowers at night, although experts think it is likely that the plant is pollinated by a type of midge that forages at night.

“This is another reminder that surprising discoveries can still be made,” says André Schuiteman of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. “But it is a race against time to find species like this that only occur in primeval tropical forests. As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast.”