People around the world are struck by lightning every year. Although most people survive the impact, they experience serious injuries to their body and mind. One of the rarest and most striking symptoms is known as lightning flowers.
What are lightning flowers?
If you are lucky enough to survive a lightning strike, in addition to the physical and psychological consequences, you may observe a kind of tree- or root-shaped tattoo on your body: lightning flowers. These are generated when a non-conductive body receives a high electrical charge.
Lightning flowers, also known as Lichtenberg figures, are produced when the capillaries under the skin rupture due to the lightning's discharge. The appearance or shape we see would mark the path and degree of absorption of the lightning. These natural "tattoos" do not last a lifetime; they only appear for a few hours or days before disappearing completely.
It is worth noting that these figures can also appear in places where lightning strikes. Although it is not very common, there have been occasions when they have been observed on grassy areas where lightning has struck, such as golf courses or soccer stadiums.
These figures were discovered by the German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg in 1977, from whom they get their name. The so-called lightning flowers had such peculiar ramifications that they generated great interest and began to be studied.
Nature is as beautiful as it is dangerous. Therefore, no precaution is too much when facing natural phenomena like a thunderstorm.
