14 Strangest Plants in the World

Here are 14 plants you probably never knew acutally exist from creepy sounding ones like the corpse flower to the baseball plant!

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8. Parachute Flower
Plant, known scientifically as Ceropegia, is a common species of plant endemic to parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The plant has been given many names, like parachute plant, because of its semblance of an unopened parachute attached to the main body by a string. In this image, the plant is shown with flowers having coalesced on the body, bestowing the plant with an array of beautiful patterns. The parachute plant is often harvested, and its seeds are sold to be grown as ornamental and decorative house plants.

7. Smelly Orchid
The hammer orchid is a species of flower that grows near swampy landscapes in Western Australia. The plant is unusual in appearance and produces pheromones which attract wasps that pollinate the flower. To wasps, the smell emitting from the flower might be delightful, but to humans, it smells curiously like raw meat. Perhaps this is an adaptation which attracts only organisms beneficial to the plant while deferring those that aren’t.

6. The Strangler Fig
Strangler Fig is an umbrella term for a myriad of different species, but they all have one thing in common--they are all freeloaders. The strangler fig depends on the survivability of other plants or trees for its existence. The seeds of strangler figs are proliferated by being carried by birds that sometimes drop them in dense canopies of trees. If the seed lands near a tree or another plant the strangler fig will grow by encasing its victim in its gnarled limbs, suckling at its lifeforce for its own benefit. The strangler fig will drain the nutrients from a tree or plant until there is nothing left but a hollow void where the former inhabitant had once resided.

5. Silver Torch Cactus
The Silver Torch Cactus, which grows at high altitudes in Bolivian and Argentinian mountains, has a very peculiar look. The cactus is covered from top to base with thousands of white thorns, giving the appearance that it’s clothed in a furry coat. It also grows long, pink flowers which protrude out its sides like tentacles. Its uniqueness in appearance is matched equally with its ability to endure temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius.

4. Hydnora
Hydnora is a species of plant that grows exclusively underground. What you see in this image is the flower of the Hydnora plant, not the plant itself. The flower emits an unpleasant odor which smells like feces to humans and attracts beetles. The beetles coalesce in the middle of the flower before it seals shut. The beetles are in no danger, however, because they are only trapped in the flower long enough for the plant to be fully mature, and then it releases its captives into the world to pollinate other flowers.

3. Living Stones
Lithops plants, native to the arid climates of Africa, are unusual in that they have the ability to assimilate into the form of a rock, deceiving animals into thinking it is an inanimate object. There are several different species of Lithops, each of them camouflaging into their rock of preference. The camouflage technique of Lithop plants is so effective that some scientists can’t distinguish them from real rocks, which earned them the name of “living stones.”

2. Corpse Flower
The Corpse Flower, formally known as Rafflesia, is a rare plant that grows the largest flower in the world, measuring up to 3 feet across and weighing up to 24 pounds. The Corpse Flower, found in the Philippines, earned its name because of the foul odor emanating from it--reminiscent of rotting flesh. Though the scent is repulsive to humans, insects are often attracted to it, allowing this species of plant to proliferate from the seeds carried off by its visitors. Although some Corpse flowers are successful in reproducing, it is on an endangered species list, probably because of the length of time it takes, up to nine months, for another plant to sprout. Just don’t go around digging up these plants for your home garden; they may go extinct.

1. Elephant Foot Yam
The Elephant-foot Yam, which grows in the tropical regions of Asia and Africa, is the most unusual plant on this list. Not only does this plant appear distorted and deformed, but it is also related to the Corpse Flower, so it emits a similar rotting flesh stench. What the Elephant-foot yam lacks in smell, it makes up in taste. Yes, this yam is edible. In some tribal cultures, though they are few, consider this plant a delicacy fit for consuming. Other cultures eat the yam only if they have to, meaning they probably don’t find it very appetizing. Despite its harsh looks, if you find yourself stranded with nothing to eat but the Elephant-foot Yam, go ahead and give it a try, you might find you like it.

Видео 14 Strangest Plants in the World канала Hectic Express