A Chinese nun has found an Udumbara flower, which Buddhist legend holds blossoms every 3,000 years, growing under her washing machine.

The flower was found in the home of a Chinese nun in Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi province.

The Udumbara – apparently Sanskrit for an auspicious flower from heaven’ – measures just 1 mm in diameter and is said to find mentions in Buddhist mythology on account of its supposed rarity.

The newspaper said Miao Wei, 50, discovered the white flower under her washing machine.

Auspicious Buddhist flower’ blooms in China after 3000 yrs.