These Plants Found Around The Globe Are Amazing
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
On the next page you’ll find a tree that can save your life.
4. 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.
5. 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!
On the next page you’ll find a plant that looks like a bat.
6. Black bat flower
This amazing exotic flower is called the Black bat flower. Its petals measure around 12″, while its “whiskers” can reach lengths up to 28″. It is found primarily in southeast Asia and prefers forests and valleys in shady areas. It’s different from other flowers because it doesn’t use saturated colors to attract pollinators. These flowers fill another niche: they attract flies looking for decaying material.
On the next page you’ll find a plant that resembles a venomous animal.
7. Cobra lily
This strange, flesh-eating plant resembles the hood of a cobra snake, while its forked leaf looks like a tongue. The plant lures insects inside and makes sure they never find the exit. The hood is slightly translucent, allowing light to shine in from all sides. From the inside, the insects have trouble figuring out where freedom begins and where this death trap ends.
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 tree of which the sap looks like blood.
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 a massive and smelly flower.