A picture of a flower is going viral on social media with a claim that it is a ‘Mahameru flower’ that blooms once every 400 years in the Himalayas.
“यह हिमालय में पाया जाने वाला एक दुर्लभ फूल है जो ” महामेरु पुष्पम् ” या ” आर्य पू ” के नाम से जाना जाता है । इस पुष्प की विशेषता यह है कि यह 400 वर्ष में एक बार दिखाई देता है ।इस समय यह फूल खिला हुआ है ।इसे पुनः देखने के लिए 400 साल प्रतीक्षा करनी पड़ेगी ।सौभाग्य शाली है हमारी यह पीढ़ी, जो आजकल आये हुए इस दुर्लभ पुष्प को देख रही है । मित्रो को भी दिखाएं ।मान्यता है कि इस पुष्प का दर्शन करना और कराना पुण्य का काम है ।।
( जैसा हमें प्राप्त हुआ, वैसा साभार प्रस्तुत किया)” the caption read.

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FACT CHECK 

When NewsMobile fact-checked the post, we found the claim to be fake.
We put the picture through Reverse Image Search and found a post on Yandex where it was identified as Protea. ‘Protea and Leucadendron Growing – New Zealand’, the title of the article read and the picture caption read, ‘White protea – Photo Theresa Sjoquist’.

We ran a search for Protea flower and found that the flower is known as Protea cynaroides.
The Nation Flower of South Africa, it is also known as King Protea, Giant Protea, Honeypot, King Sugar Bush. The flower at a different time of the year depending on the local conditions. Protea cynaroides grow in a harsh environment with dry, hot summers and wet, cold winters.
Widely distributed in the south-western and southern areas of the Western Cape, the flower has several different colours and leaf shapes.
The above information proves that the viral picture is of Protea cynaroides and NOT some ‘Mahameru flower’ that blooms once every 400 years in the Himalayas.
Hence, the claim attached to the above post is fake.

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