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.
