The plant kingdom is full of wonders. Plants with varied shapes, incredible colors, subtle fragrances, and monstrous and frightening plants. As nothing happens by chance, the strange character of these plants arouses fear or mystery. Discover the 10 strangest plants.
The 10 most terrifying plants
10. Hydnora africana
Hydnora Africana est l’une des plantes les plus bizarres du continent africain et parait assez monstrueuse sa couleur brune comme une croûte et son apparence en forme de mâchoires.
Les Hydnora Africana appartiennent à la famille des Hydnoracées et vivent en Afrique du Sud majoritairement.
This plant, because yes it is a plant, lives as a parasite. Indeed, as it has no leaves and it cannot make chlorophylls (an essential element for the plant to make its food by capturing energy from the sun according to a process called photosynthesis), it clings to the roots of another plant, the spurge. In this way, it pumps its vital energy to its host.
Much of the plant and even the flower grows in the basement. But the flower can reach up to 0.66 feet high.
Despite the white hairs that look like teeth, this plant is not carnivorous. It does not trap insects and then digests them. But its strong smell irresistibly attracts pollinating insects. Once they enter, the plant closes and kidnaps them for several days. When the flower opens again, pollen-filled insects can fertilize other plants and ensure the survival of the species.
9. Wolffia
Wolffia is the smallest flowering plant in the plant kingdom and thrives in the aquatic environment. In reality, it is a kind of duckweed from the Lemnaceae family.
These lenses repent on the surface of the lakes where they float quietly. It has no root. It’s just an oval plant with a pistil and a single stamen in the center of the flower. It flowers very rarely, if at all in Europe.
It is found almost everywhere on the globe with a higher concentration in tropical regions.
8. The pebble plant or the lithop
On the surface, the plant has only two leaves separated by a crack. The rest of the plant stays under the ground to protect itself from drought. Its flowering is quite amazing and gives birth to pretty white, yellow or pink flowers.
Among the 10 strangest plants, this one surprises you with its mimetism with stones.
Better known as a pebble plant, the lithop surprises with its shape and beauty.
Lithops are edible and succulents plants that live in semi-desert regions such as South Africa or Namibia. They are part of the Aizoaceae family. Their pebble-like appearance is an adaptation of the plant which allows them to merge into the landscape while adapting to the hostile conditions of the environment.
7. Black bat flower (Tacca chantrieri)
This flower also renamed bat flower or devil flower belongs to the family of Taccaceae. She lives mainly in Southeast Asia (Burma, Malaysia, Thailand) and West Africa.
It owes its name to its black inflorescences which, when closed, give the impression of a drapery. The long, slender appendages give it grace and elegance, or a sinister air for others.
6. The Drosera
The Droséa is a carnivorous plant, in other words, it can catch and digest insects to harvest what it needs to live. This allows him to live where other plants cannot live, even on poor soil. It belongs to the sundew family and can be found all over the world.
The Droséra is made up of tentacles with a nectar gland at the tip. This gland produces a very viscous and sticky liquid which allows it to trap the insects which land on it. Once caught, the tentacle wraps around its prey and smothers it until it stops moving. The liquid produced by its gland digests the insect which allows the plant to feed itself. Among the 10 strangest plants, this one is definitely the most greedy.
5. Octopus stinkhorn
The archer anthurus more commonly known as the devil’s fingers or stinkhorne octopus is a native mushroom that lives in Australia and New Zealand. It belongs to the phallaceae family.
While mushroom are not plant, let’s talk about this specific case.
This mushroom, which looks like it came straight from a horror film, arrived in Europe in 1914. Before showing its tentacles, this mushroom grows inside a transparent bag of 1.6 to 2.4 inches. When mature, 4 sticky tentacles come out of the bag to reach a length of 3.9-5.9 inches.
The latter is covered with a kind of smelly brown jelly that attracts flies. This plant is not carnivorous, it only covers insects with its spores and uses them as a dispersing agent.
4. Doll's eye (Actaea pachypoda)
Actaea pachypoda is a peculiar and fascinating plant that is called doll’s eye because of the white fruit marked with a black dot, giving the appearance of an eye. It belongs to the Ranunculaceae family and lives in the meadows of North America.
It can reach up to 11.8-15.7 centimeters in height. At the end of summer, the pedicels, that is to say, the stems which bear the white fruits, take on a deep red color.
Although beautiful and original, the fruits of this plant are highly toxic to humans.
Among the 10 strangest plants, this doll’s eye plant is one of the most deadly.
3. Hydnellum peckii, or the bleeding tooth fungus
Although non-toxic, this inedible mushroom could be on the list of the most horrifying plants.
Peck’s hydnellum lives in the coniferous forests of Europe and North America, but also in the forests of Australia, Iran, Korea, and Russia. It belongs to the family of Bankeraceae.
It is characterized by a white hat and small protrusions that form teeth on its lower part. It owes its name to a bloody tooth from the red liquid it produces which looks like blood. The pigment it contains is said to have anticoagulant properties like heparin.
2. Chinese fleeceflower
Doesn’t it make you think of anything? For little, you would think that the world of Harry Potter really exists. This Chinese plant, which is not a mandrake, is also called He Shou Wu. From the family of polygonaceae, it particularly surprises people with its roots in the shape of human beings.
The resemblance is really striking. You might think it is an exception, but in reality, it is common for this plant to have roots in the form of humans.
Although mother nature seems to have fun with her dolls out of Earth, the Chinese also give her miraculous properties. For example, they claim that the powder from this root is a remedy for hair regrowth and against aging or a fertility stimulant.
The Chinese use it in their herbalism.
1. Rafflesia
This huge flower is not the brainchild of Alice in Wonderland. This gigantic flower that lives in the tropics is the largest in the world. It is a species of parasite living in hot, humid climates such as Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines. It belongs to the Rafflesiaceae family.
It has neither stem nor leaf. But 5 large petals around a heart resembling a huge mouth ready to swallow you. It can reach up to a meter in diameter and weigh up to 22 lbs (the weight of a large bucket of water).
As it cannot make its chlorophyll, it cannot produce its food by photosynthesis. She is therefore forced to attach herself to another plant to share her food. Hence the fact that it is called parasitic.