Cambodia has its hands full after a video went viral of some frisky women playing with some rather phallic-looking plants on Bokor Mountain in Kampot province.
The ‘Nepenthes holdenii’, also known as the “penis plant”, has gained some notoriety in recent years, thanks to social media.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t bode well for Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment which issued a statement urging people, particularly women, from picking the erotic-looking plants because they were at risk of extinction.
‘Nepenthes holdenii’ is a tropical pitcher plant commonly found in the mountainous regions of western Cambodia, the New York Post reported.
The flower — dubbed the “penis plant” due to its resemblance to an erect human phallus — has long been a protected species, wrote the publication.
“What they are doing is wrong and do not do it again in the future! Thank you for loving natural resources, but do not pick, (or) they will be ruined,” the Ministry of Environment warned.
In October last year, visitors to Leiden, Netherlands, had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a rare penis plant bloom for the first time in nearly 25 years.
Garden volunteer Roos Kocken posted a TikTok of the event, saying that the penis plant was “all shrivelled up” and workers had sliced it open so visitors could see inside.
“It's still beautiful, actually,” she told the Daily Mail.
Botanists at the Hortus Botanial Garens believe this is only the third time the species has flowered in Europe.