10. Dracunculus vulgaris
The flowers are stunning, with rich purple colour and a long black
appendix which can reach a total length of 135 cm. This plant also goes
by the names Dragon Arum, Voodoo Lily, Ragons, Snake Lily, Black Arum,
Black Dragon, Dragonwort, & Stink Lily, and is most commonly found
in an area ranging from the Balkans through Greece to Turkey. The eerie
erotic beauty of this plant can be a little shocking, as the leaves
continue to develop into a spiral and have been described as looking
like antlers. Pretty yes, but don’t stick your nose in for a sniff of
this plant. The odor is that of rotting flesh, because it needs to
attract carrion-eating pollinators.
9. Amorphophallus
This rather bizarre and tall plant translates into English as,
literally, “shapeless male genitalia”, with the taller species having
Titan affixed to the name (from Ancient Greek amorphos, “without form,
misshapen” + phallus, “penis”, and titan, “giant”). OK, not a stretch
for that one. This plant grows in the subtropical zones from West Africa
to the Pacific Islands, yet the larger species of the plant is
indigenous to the equatorial rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is
distinguished by a single, elongated center called a corm and a single
large leaf that wraps around it. While this plant commonly grows well
over 1.5 meters in the wild, the most titanic of the species was
cultivated in Germany, gaining a height of nearly 3 meters (9 ft, 6 in).
Astoundingly, the entire stalk and its crowning leafy ensemble is a single leaf (inflorescence).
And much like the Dracunculus, this plant is of the similar genera that
have big flowers that mimic dead, rotting, stinking gunk. They do this
so that insects of the right sort will buzz in from far and wide in
search of nasty, smelly things to crawl around on. Pollination occurs.
The plant gets what it wants. Thus, the common English name for this
plant: “corpse flower”, though “necrophilia bulb” isn’t bad either.
8. Rafflesia arnoldii
Several species of Rafflesia grow in the jungles of southeast Asia,
including the Philippines. Many of them are threatened or endangered. It
lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in
primary (undisturbed) rainforests. Rafflesia lacks any observable
leaves, stems or even roots, yet is still considered a vascular plant.
Similar to fungi, individuals grow as thread-like strands of tissue
completely embedded within and in intimate contact with surrounding host
cells from which nutrients and water are obtained. Perhaps the only
part of Rafflesia that is identifiable as distinctly plant-like are the
flowers, identified as the largest single plant flower on the planet. Rafflesia arnoldii
is rare and fairly hard to locate. It is especially difficult to locate
the flower in forests as the buds take many months to develop and the
flower lasts for just a few days. The flowers are unisexual and thus
proximity of male and female flowers is vital for successful
pollination. These factors make successful pollination a rare event. How many of these plants still survive is unknown, but as the
remaining primary forests of Borneo and Sumatra disappear, it can only
be assumed that their numbers are dwindling. The species are known to be nearing extinction.
Some environmentalists are thinking of a way to recreate the species’
environment, in an effort to stimulate a recovery in the population of
this endangered species. This has proved unsuccessful so far, but the
efforts have continued. Steps are also being taken to conserve the
forests of Sumatra and Borneo.
7. Wollemia nobilis
This bizarre-looking tree, long thought to be extinct, is the only species of its genus. Prior to its discovery in 1994 the Wollemia nobilis
was previously known only from fossil leaves which dated as far back as
200 million years. Interestingly, the discovery came as a result of a
random “walk in the forest” by an Australian park ranger named David
Noble, who just happened to have a good eye and a knowledge of botany.
Today fewer than one hundred exist in the wild, in three localities not
far apart, though it is difficult to count the population as most trees
are multi-stemmed and may have connected root systems. The trees, which
can grow up to a height of 125 feet, have strange bark that looks like
bubbles of chocolate, multiple trunks, and ferny-looking leaves growing
in spirals.
6. Welwitschia mirabilis
Welwitschia mirabilis, consisting of only only two leaves and a stem with roots, is a bizarre species of dioecious gymnosperm native
to the Namibian deserts of SW Africa. The two strap-like leaves will
reach up to 6-8 feet (1.82-2.43 m) in length (and eventually longer) and
up to 3 feet (0.91 m) wide. The two leaves arise from a short woody
stem and continue to grow throughout the plants lifetime, which may be
centuries long (its estimated lifespan is 400 to 1500 years). Leaves
will split lengthwise into many segments. The stem, which typically gets
thicker rather than higher, can reach up to 1.5 feet (45 cm) tall and
up to 5 feet (1.52 m) across. Discovered it in 1859, it is considered a
living fossil, a true relic of the past.
5. Wolffia angusta
This little plant is teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy. It is the world’s
smallest flower. A dozen plants would easily fit on the head of a pin
and two plants in full bloom will fit inside a small printed letter “o.”
This species of plant lives on the water, floating at the surface of
ponds, swamps and quiet streams. They are distributed throughout the
world, particularly in warm temperate and tropical regions. In order to
survive on water they are greatly reduced flowering plants, without
leaves or stems, and with only the remnants of vascular tissue in some
species. The plant has been nicknamed “watermeal” because they look and
feel like small, mealy particles in the water. Five species of Wolffia
are now known to occur in the western United States, with 11 species
worldwide.
4. Hydnora africana
The Hydnora is found in Namibia and South Africa, growing on the
roots of neighbouring plants. This parasite attaches itself to Euphorbia
roots 5-15cm below ground, but will not harm the host, and is
relatively difficult to spot (aside from the odor) as it exposes only
its rather bizarre-looking dark red flower 5-8 cm above the ground.This
member of the Hydnoraceae family was described by Carl Peter Thunberg in
1775, and in the theme of weird tropical plants. To attract
pollinators such as carrion beetles, it emits the unpleasant
rotting-flesh odour. As the plant is often hidden within the host bush,
it is quite difficult to find, but is betrayed by its smell.
Unperturbed, jackal and baboon eat the fruit that develops from the
flowers, as do the Khoi-San people, from which it derives its local
name: Bushman’s salad.
3. Pitcher Plant
Cobra lilies (Darlingtonia californica) use window-like aeriolae to lure insects into their hollow leaves. |
2. Venus Fly Trap
Like the pitcher plant, the Venus Fly Trap is carnivorous, but grabs
its food rather than waiting for it, making it an aggressive plant
versus its more passive carnivorous friend. The plant is unique in that
it is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid
movement. Botanists still do not fully understand how the plant
functions, both in its rapid reaction time and how its leaves move
quickly from a resting convex shape (bent outwards) to a concave shape
(trapping), making it one of the true wonders of nature and one of the
truly unusual and remarkable species of the plant world. Although it has
been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the
world, it is found natively only in North and South Carolina in the
United States, specifically within a 60 mile radius of Wilmington, North
Carolina. Currently, there are estimated to be more than 3-6 million
plants in cultivation compared to only 35,800 plants remaining in
nature, however this data is over 15 years old and undoubtedly,
underestimates the current situation. Several prominent plant
conservationists suggest the plant be labelled as Vulnerable.
1. Baobob tree
Although the Baobob is not a plant, it has topped this list because
it is was one of the most unusual plant forms known to man. Native to
South Africa, the tree is commonly described as growing upside down,
with its roots in the air and its trunk buried in the ground. The tree
has mythic properties for many tribes in the region, acts as signpost
and guide for travellers and plays an important role in the ecosystem of
the area, providing food, water and medicine its leaves, fruit and
seeds. And as befitting a legend, they are monumental in proportions:
the species reach heights of 5 to 30 metres (16 to 98 ft) and have trunk
diameters of 7 to 11 metres (23 to 36 ft). An African Baobab specimen
in Limpopo Province, South Africa, often considered the largest example
alive, has a circumference of 47 metres (150 ft) and an average diameter
of 15 metres (49 ft). Their huge trunk is able to store large amounts
of water (up to 120,000 litres), which allows the trees to survive in
the arid climates. And because the tree does not form rings in its bark
with growth, it is not known how old the trees get, though legend has it
that the older trees have been around for several thousand years. Like
this one, that is the centre of the town - wow.
Source : http://listsoplenty.com
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