A couple are quids in after they purchased a rare plant from B&Q for just £12 - but its leaves are worth £170 each.
Harry Langstaff and Amy Biffa spotted the plant had been marked down from £24 to £12.
The couple believe it had been reduced due to yellow colouring that had appeared on its leaves, which staff could've mistaken for a disease - but this actually means the plant is extremely rare.
Harry and Amy picked up a monstera Aurea marmorata - which can sell for anywhere between £200 for a clipping, to £2,000 for a whole plant.
The amateur botanists said they felt like they were “winning the lottery” when they spotted the discount.
It comes after plant collectors urged shoppers to check shops for unusual shrubs in B&Q and Lidl - again, as staff are mistakenly marking down rare species over fears they are sick.
Harry told The Sun : "When we first saw the plant sitting there, we kind of just looked at each other and really couldn’t believe what we were seeing.
"It was reduced to £12 because it had a yellow leaf that B&Q must have assumed meant it was sick.
"We hastily checked the stem for any colour, we then immediately just snatched it up and strapped it in the back seat with a seatbelt like it was our child."
The couple had been searching stores for rare plants for their small business, The Plant Couple.
Harry reckons their plant is worth about £600 at the moment and says they'll sell the leaves at £170 each.
The couple say the plant would need to have elaborate multi-coloured leaves to be worth as much as £2,000.
To check whether your plant is rare or just has one yellow dry leaf, Harry recommends looking at the stem to see if this too is also yellow or white.
If the stem shows signs of striping, then it's variegated - which means showing different colours - and your plant could be worth a small fortune.
Even then, you have to wait until it has grown properly to make sure it isn’t just a disease.
Harry says the chances of finding a super rare plant in a local shop can be "extremely slim, one in a million".
A B&Q spokesperson said: “At B&Q we’re pretty proud of the quality of our house plants so we can see why it’s been reported that our plants could be worth up to £4,000.
"Whilst we don’t sell the extremely rare plants in question, we do sell top quality houseplants that our customers are more familiar with and that are more purse-friendly!”
