A farmer in Yunlin County was more than surprised to see his plum tree blossoming this week, more than three months earlier than usual. The owner said this never happened in the past 40 years, and even experts are scratching their heads for an explanation.

From last week, the plum flowers on this old ground-level tree has been continuously blooming at the bemusement of its owner.

Plum flowers usually blossom only in colder weather, but winter hasn't even arrived yet this year, and this tree is already sprouting plum flowers.

Mr. Ou says that this plum flower tree was grown from the wild, and in the past forty years, it has always waited until wintertime or after the Chinese New Year to bloom.

No wonder he's perplexed by the early arrival of the flowers.

The dean of the Flower Research Center, Mr. Hsieh, says that blooming plum flowers are rare at this time of the year, especially for ground-level trees.

He says it is possible the climate change has affected the growth of plantations, causing this plum flower tree to start blooming early by three to four months.

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