1. Corpse flower
The corpse flower (rafflesia arnoldii) is a kind of flowering plant that produces the largest flower on earth. Its morbid name comes from its smell, which is reminiscent of the strong and unpleasant odor of decaying flesh. The flower is native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo.
On the next page you’ll find one of the rarest plants in the world.
2. Wood’s cycad
Wood’s cycad (encephalartos woodii) is one of the rarest plants in the world. It was first discovered by John Medley Wood in South Africa. As of today, there are no wild specimens around the world. All of the Wood’s cycads that are alive today are clones. Besides that, they are all male plants. No female tree has ever been found, which means that right now there is no chance of it reproducing naturally.
On the next page you’ll find a large flesh-eating plant.
3. Nepenthes Tenax
The Nepenthes Tenax is one of the rarest flesh eating plants in the world. It’s shaped like a pitcher with a flower on top and grows to a height of 100cm. It is native to northern Queensland in Australia and is part of the endangered pieces of the world. It’s large enough to swallow rats.
On the next page you’ll find a beautiful giant water lily.
4. Giant water lily
The Giant water lily (Victoria amazonica) is the largest member of the water lily family. The lily pads are up to 8 feet across and the enormous blossoms are very fragrant, with a pineapple-like smell. It is strong enough to carry children, which makes it a very popular plant to take a family photograph with.
On the next page you’ll find a strange flower that smells like decaying flesh.
Strange and Rare Plants From Around The Globe
5. Titan Arum
The Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is a massive flower which can reach over 3m (10ft) in height. It is only found on Sumatra. Its odor is reminiscent of a rotting corpse, just like the corpse flower. The odor attracts insects which would normally feed on dead animals or lay their eggs in decaying flesh. The potency of the smell increases during the late evening until the middle of the night.
On the next page you’ll find a strange plant that might have been the inspiration for the plant from Mario.
6. Hydnora Africana
The Hydnora Africana has the reputation of being “the strangest plant in the world”. And with good reason, because it is a strange one. For a start: it has no leaves. This non-photosynthetic plant only emerges above ground to flower, sometimes damaging infrastructure like pavements. It is parasitic on the roots of other plants.
7. Bleeding tooth fungus
The Bleeding tooth fungus (hydnellum peckii) is a mushroom that looks like it bleeds from its pores, while it is growing. The adult mushroom is quite dull-looking and beige in color, but the younger version looks like something straight out of a horror movie. When the soil around the fungus gets wet, the mushroom absorbs this, creating internal pressure that forces out fluid with red pigment.
On the next page you’ll find a weird plant that lives for a very long time.
8. Welwitschia
In 1863, a Keeper of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, described this plant as ‘without question the most wonderful plant ever brought to this country, and one of the ugliest’. It is the plant with the longest lifespan. Some individuals are over 1500 years old. The plant only produces two leaves, but through the years those leaves will split into many segments as a result of wind erosion.
On the next page you’ll find a gorgeous flower shaped like a heart.
9. Bleeding Heart
This beautiful flower got its name, Bleeding Heart, from its appearance. It looks like a pink heart with a single drop of blood dangling underneath it. This flower is native to Siberia, northern China, Korea and Japan, but is now found in gardens around the world. The plant has been the subject of many Chinese poems and stories and plays a role in Traditional Chinese medicine.
On the next page you’ll find a strange plant that produces creepy-looking berries.
10. Doll’s-eyes
Doll’s-eyes (Actaea pachypoda) is a species of plant that is native to eastern North America and eastern Canada. This incredibly interesting plant grows a white berry, whose size, shape and black scar look like tiny eyes. The red stems from which they grow add to this effect, giving the plant a macabre look. To add to this, the berries are poisonous.
On the next page you’ll find a smelly plant called a Corpse flower.
11. Dragon’s Blood Tree
The Dragon’s Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) is a dragon tree native to Yemen. It gets its name from the red color of the sap that it produces, which is reminiscent of blood. Its strange shape looks like an umbrella. The sap of the tree, called dragon’s blood, has been highly sought after since the ancient world. It has been used as a dye, a medicine, a stimulant, a breath refreshened and lipstick, among other uses.
On the next page you’ll find one of the rarest flowers in the world, Middlemist’s red.
12. Middlemist’s Red
The Middlemist’s Red or the spring rose is one of the world’s rarest flowers. Only two of these plants exist. One at Treaty House in New Zealand and another at Chiswick House & Gardens in England. The latter has been flowering there every year since 1823. It was first imported as a luxury item from China in 1804. By the mid-1820’s, it was nearly extinct in its native habitat.
On the next page you’ll find a very expensive and sought-after flower, Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid.
13. Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid
Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid, also known as the Gold of Kinabalu, is a large clear-leafed kind of orchid. It was first discovered in the rainforests around Mount Kinabalu in northern Borneo. This “aristocrat of all slipper orchids” takes 15 years to grow and bloom. It is very rare and hard to find, which has made it one of the most expensive flowers in the world. The value of a single stem on the black market is around $5000.
On the next page you’ll find a smelly star-shaped plant that is native to the deserts of Africa.
14. Carrion Plant
This large plant is native to the desert regions of South Africa to Tanzania and is known as the Carrion plant of the Zulu giant. It grows up to 20cm (8 in) tall and 25cm (9.8 in) in diameter. The plant is star-shaped and smells like rotting flesh, which appears to be a recurring theme in these plants.
On the next page you’ll find a Ghost Plant, which looks as creepy as it sounds.
15. Ghost Plant
The Monotropa uziflora, also known as ghost plant, ghost pipe or Indian pipe, grows in Asia, North America and northern South America. It gets its creepy nickname from its color. It is waxy white, with black and pale pink flecks and coloration. This gives it a ghoulish look.
On the next page you’ll find the famous Baobab tree.
16. Baobab Tree
The Baobab Tree (Adansonia) is a long-living tree that is native to Africa. Some individuals grow to be over 2000 years old. Especially well known is the Baobab of Grandidier, which is the biggest of the six baobab-species native to the island of Madagascar. Its regal appearance has earned it the nickname of Reniala, meaning ‘queen of the forest’
On the next page you’ll find a plant called the vegetable sheep.
17. Vegetable Sheep
This strange-looking plant is reminiscent of a sheep’s wool. It grows on rocky areas in New Zealand. These plants grow in very fine and dense growths, which clump together in masses with only the growing tips visible. These clusters resemble sheep, giving them their nickname vegetable sheep.
On the next page you’ll find a strange plant that mimics little pebbles.
18. Living Stones
Living stones (lithops) are a genus of succulent plants, which have a stone-like appearance. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and pebbles. They are popular house plants and are widely available in shops and over the internet. They do not need a lot of nutrients or water, just like other succulents.
19. Traveller’s Palm
This incredible tree is called Ravenala, or traveller’s palm. It got this name because the tree is so full of water. A parched traveller can poke a hole almost anywhere in the tree and get enough clean water to quench his thirst. Its leaves grow in a 2D fan shape, which makes it very recognizable.
On the next page you’ll find a beautiful flower.
Strange and Rare Plants From Around The Globe
20. Passion flower
This gorgeous flower is called a passion flower, or passiflora. The fruits of this plant are well known and well liked all around the world. The flower that precedes the fruit is very intricately shaped, as you can see in the photo above. What a beauty!