Authorities in Cambodia have appealed to the public to stop picking a particular rare carnivorous plant that bears a certain resemblance to a human penis, Live Science reports.
The development comes after a video emerged online earlier this month showing a trio of women picking the plants and posing with them.
"What they are doing is wrong and please don’t do it again in the future!" Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment pleaded in a Facebook* post. "Thank you for loving natural resources, but don’t harvest so it goes to waste!"
According to the media outlet, the plant in question is known as Nepenthes bokorensis – a species of carnivorous pitcher plant that thrives in low-nutrient soil by supplementing its diet with insects.
The plant’s natural habitats in Cambodia, however, have witnessed a decline due to agricultural expansion on private lands and the spread of the tourism industry into protected areas, Live Science notes.
Francois Mey, a botanical illustrator who described the species in question, pointed out that picking the plant’s pitchers could jeopardise their survival.
"If people are interested, even in a funny way, to pose, to make selfies with the plants, it's fine", he said. "Just do not pick the pitchers because it weakens the plant, because the plant needs these pitchers to feed".
*Facebook is banned in Russia over extremist activities.