Mutant Daisies Found Near Site of Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

This article originally appeared in the Daily Mail:

It will surprise no one but mutant daisies with two connected flowers and four stems have been found growing near the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Four years after the tragic disaster saw the meltdown of six nuclear reactors at the plant following a tsunami, the area is still being affected by radiation that came after the tragedy.

The mutilated plants were captured by the Japanese Twitter user @Sain_Kaidu who lives in the city of Nasushiobara, about 110 km from the nuclear plant.

Known as fasciation (or cresting) the hormonal imbalance in vascular plants is a rare condition causing plants to increase in weight and volume.

The sprouting of abnormal flowers at the site of Fukushima however is not a shock with deformed fruit growing within the area as well.

So it is no surprise that the abnormal flowers have started growing in Fukushima but they can occur anywhere. The condition is also one without treatment.

Translated by The International Business Times, the tweeter’s post read: ‘The right one grew up, (and) split into 2 stems to have 2 flowers connected (to) each other, having 4 stems of flower tied belt-like.’

Critics reacted to the images on social media claiming them to be a scam when in fact the condition is real.

Since the tragic disaster in 2011 the area of Fukushima has since been evacuated.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail.