Plants are a fascinating thing on Earth. There are thousands of plant species around the world. Plants have been part of the Earth before humans came into existence. There are plants which are useful, beautiful and amazing. Few plants are also used as food by animals and humans alike. Many plants have been in use in medicine as well. Due to the diversity of plant species on Earth, there are plants which are interesting and strange. These plants come into the category of being the weirdest plants. It will be fascinating to know the features of these strange plants.
Check out the 10 weirdest plants in the world that are unique:
10. Corpse Plant (Titan Arum/Amorphophallus titanum)
Titan Arum, also known as the corpse plant or corpse flower is a flowering plant that is found in rain-forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and Malaysian Borneo. The odor of the plant is weird. The plant smells of a rotting corpse after the floor blooms. The strange flower only opens for 48 hours. The rotting smell is powerful enough to attract insect pollinators. It is the largest flowering structure in the world, growing up to 3m tall. The plant rarely blooms. It requires 7-9 years of growth to bloom. Some plants may not bloom even after 9 years. In 2003, at the Botanical Garden of the University of Bonn in Germany, the tallest bloom was achieved (8 ft 11 in). This is part of Guinness World Records. This plant is creepy looking.
9. Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
Venus flytrap is one of the most wonderful plants in the world. Dionaea muscipula is a carnivorous plant native only to the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. The plant has a unique way of luring prey. They lure their prey by secreting fragrant nectar and by the reddish lining in the leaves. Venus flytrap mainly preys ants. Once the prey enters the leaf, it shuts tight. It also feeds on beetles, flies, grasshopper, spiders and even tiny frogs. The plant’s mouth is closed airtight. This mechanism helps the plant to keep away from bacteria inside the leaf. It has unique teeth on their leaves.
8. Ugliest Plant (Welwitschia Mirabilis)
Welwitschia mirabilis is one of the oldest plants in the world. It is weird and ugly. This plant is referred to as a living fossil. The plant is native to the Namib Desert in Namibia and Angola. It has been named after Friedrich Welwitsch who made the plant’s discovery in 1859. Some of the plant specimens collected was as old as 1000 to 1500 years. The plant lives in a region which is arid and with almost no rainfall. They are extremely resistant to such weather. These plants are one of the most resistant plants in the world. Their leaves have unique structure helping it to store moisture for future. Even the oldest plants have just two leaves. The leaf grows long, twisted and splits multiple times making it difficult to find out at first glance.
7. Largest Flower Plant (Rafflesia Arnoldii)
Rafflesia arnoldii looks strange and unique. They are a flowering plant producing the largest flower on Earth. Another strange feature of the plant is its ability to produce strong flesh decaying odor similar to Titan arum. It is also called as the “corpse flower”. The individually largest flowering plant is endemic to rain-forests of Sumatra and possibly Borneo. In 1993, the plant was officially recognized as a national “rare flower” of Indonesia. It can grow more than three feet across. An infant can easily crawl inside the flower and fall asleep. The genus to which this plant belongs is a genetic mystery among scientists. The weird fact about the plant is that it is a parasite. The parasitic plant grows all of a sudden from an infected host vine.
6. Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes Attenboroughii)
Nepenthes attenboroughii is a large pitcher plant found only in the inaccessible regions of Mount Victoria, central Palawan, Philippines. It is among the largest pitcher plants in the world. The plant can easily catch rats and largest insects with its trap. The carnivorous pitcher plant gets its name from the celebrated broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. It is one of the world’s 100 most threatened species according to a report by IUCN Species Survival Commission. The carnivorous plant is the largest of its kind in the world.
5. Baseball Plant (Euphorbia Obesa)
Euphorbia obesa is a weird-looking plant species that comes from South Africa. It looks like a baseball and is referred to as “baseball plant”. The baseball plant has a slow growth rate and contains only 2 to 3 seeds in the pod. Due to over-collection and poaching, the plant is endangered. They are spherical and become cylindrical with age. Their latex is toxic. The plant blooms during summer and produces rudiment leaves for a short period of time.
4. Stone Plant (Lithops)
Lithops are succulent plants which are weird due to their appearance resembling to pebbles or stones. They blend with the surrounding rocks and stones avoiding from being eaten by animals. Lithops have other names such as pebble plants or living stones. The name of the plant comes from the Ancient Greek words meaning – lithos (stone) and ops (face). They are native to southern Africa. These plants are common and popular among indoor gardeners. There are a variety of subspecies of Lithops around the world. They have different colors and shapes.
3. The Cobra Lily (Darlingtonia Californica)
Many carnivorous plants are weird. The cobra lily is a carnivorous pitcher plant that resembles a cobra snake. The other name of the plant is California pitcher plant. It is the only plant species of the genus Darlingtonia of the New World pitcher plant family (Sarraceniaceae). This rare plant is native to Northern California and Oregon. The leaves of the plant resemble that of fangs or a serpent’s tongue. As carnivorous plants live in hostile environments, their leaves and roots are highly irregular. The cobra lily can survive fire and regenerate from its roots. These plants live at an elevation of up to 2,000 metres in redwood and red fir forests with temperatures of below 18 °C.
2. Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis)
The Cape sundew is a plant which is unique for having tentacles. It is a small rosette-forming carnivorous plant species native to the Cape in South Africa. The plant’s feature rich tentacle traps arthropods. It uses sticky mucilage from the tentacle to trap insects. The brightly colorful tentacles are 3.5 centimetres in length. After trapping the insect, the leaves roll lengthwise towards the center. This mechanism aids digestion by bringing the prey to more digestive glands. It is the easiest carnivorous plants to grow indoors. It is one of the most common sundews in cultivation.
1. Jackal Food (Hydnora Africana)
Hydnora africana is a bizarre plant species native to southern Africa. It releases strong odor of feces to attract its pollinators. Similar to other pollinating plants by emitting odor, this is a real weird one. Apart from pollinators, it also attracts dung beetles and carrion beetles. The plant grows underground and only its fleshy flower is visible outside. The other name of the plant is jakkalskos or jackal food. The flower traps the insect temporarily so that the insect can pick-up enough pollen. Another strange thing about the plant is that it grows fruits underground and is similar to the taste and texture of a potato.