Rare orchid has flowered unexpectedly amid unseasonably warm November temperatures, giving botanic garden visitors a chocolate scented treat.
Nigel Brown, curator of the Treborth in Gwynedd, said the stanhopea was unusual both in the wild and when cultivated.
Botanic garden staff think the very sunny autumn may have triggered the unexpected bloom.
The plant usually flowers every other year during the summer.
The garden recorded the highest temperature for November in north Wales in 25 years on Sunday when the thermometer hit 18.2C (64.7F)
At Treborth - which is on land bought by Bangor University in the 1960s - the plant has six-inch long leaves coming out of a "green ribbed potato-like" bulb which stores water similar to a cactus.
The flower then dangles below the whole plant and each flower is a couple of inches across.
Mr Brown believes there is a link between the unusual November weather and its appearance.
"As it is inside we supplement the heat anyway but on a sunny day the temperature does go up above this."
The plant will only be in flower for four to five days and has a "very powerful" smell.
"I find it like chocolate, slightly mint, and it carries throughout the building."
BBC Wales weather presenter Sue Charles said the average temperature for November across Wales is normally between 9 - 11C (48 - 52F), so conditions have been unseasonably mild.
Warmer than Athens
"Anglesey was 6 degrees warmer than Athens," she said
"You need a few key factors to get days like this in November.
" High pressure brings clearer, settled conditions and crucially sunshine. The wind came from the south east, blowing in warm air, known as a tropical continental air mass.
"When you get south easterly winds - areas in the north west of Wales will benefit from what's known as the Foehn effect. Warm air dries out as it hits mountains and hills - and warms up as it descends and reaches sheltered areas on the other side."
The highest temperature in November in Wales was recorded in November 1946, with 21.7C (71F) in Prestatyn, Denbighshire.
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