This Rare Himalayan Flower Blooms Once in Decades, Revealing a Fragile Wonder

High in the eastern Himalayas, where the air is thin and the terrain is rugged, a rare and remarkable plant grows. The ‘Sikkim Sundari’, known scientifically as Rheum nobile, has fascinated botanists and nature lovers for decades because of its unusual life cycle and the eye-catching spectacle it creates when it finally blooms. For most of its life, the plant stays close to the ground as a modest rosette of leaves, patiently storing energy for the moment it will rise. After many years, typically between seven and 30, it shoots upward into a tall tower that can reach nearly two metres. In th...