15 Plants So Weird They Look From Another Planet

There are around 422,000 species of plants on the planet, according to a recent study carried out by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, one of the largest environmental organizations in the world. So much diversity is translated in the form of specimens of different colors, shapes and sizes. However, some of them even look like extraterrestrials, due to their extremely unusual characteristics.

With backpack, map and compass in hand, the awesome.club went on a virtual journey to bring you examples of the most exotic plants and flowers found around the world.

Native to southern Africa, the plant grows underground, and the only part that is visible is its peculiar flower. The main feature of the plant is its unpleasant smell for humans, but attractive for natural pollinators, including beetles. When they land on african hydnora, the animals are temporarily trapped in the flowers, which act as cages. When released, the beetles come out laden with pollen, allowing the plant to reproduce.

The gender Sundew it is known in some places as “dew of the sun” or “herb of the drop”, due to the sticky secretion exhaled by the filaments of the plant and which serves a vital function: to capture the insects that become its food. Charles Darwin himself was fascinated by the biology of this plant. the species capensisnative to South Africa, is one of the most peculiar among carnivores, thanks to the way it bends after taking hold of its prey.

For the most unaware, they look like stones, but the Lithops are a genus of succulent plants also native to southern Africa. Its name comes from ancient Greek and means “stone shape”, an evolutionary characteristic that allows the plant to camouflage itself with the environment and survive attacks from eventual predators. Each species has different colors and flowers that grow in the gap between the leaves.

THE rafflesia arnoldii, also known as common rafflesia, is found in the rainforests of Indonesia and has a flower that can reach the marks of one meter in diameter and 11 kilos. The numbers make her the holder of the title of the largest flower in the world. However, we cannot say that it is a pleasant flower, at least not for humans: it releases a strong fetid aroma, similar to that of rotten meat, in order to attract the flies that pollinate it. In addition, it is a parasitic plant, that is, it grows on the roots of trees, from where it takes the nutrients it needs.

“A large purple ‘sword’ with a stout spadix containing male and female flowers.” This is the description of the plant, originally from the Balkans. It is known in Brazil as serpentaria, but in other countries it is called little dragon, lizard flower or witches’ herb. It lives well at temperatures around 18 degrees, has a rotten meat odor to attract pollinators and is toxic for human consumption.

This vine is native to Philippine forests, although today it is found in different parts of the world. Its stems can reach 18 or 20 meters and its main characteristics are claw-shaped leaves in a pale green tone similar to jade (ornamental stone). The leaves, by the way, open in a beautiful and leafy bunch. In its natural habitat, it is pollinated by bats.

It can measure up to 10 meters and is originally from Socotra, an archipelago belonging to Yemen. Its branches branch out, forming a semi-spherical crown, as if it were an open umbrella. Its small fruits serve as food for birds and have a kind of resin (called “dragon’s blood”) used since antiquity for painting and medicine.

The plant is called bat-flower because of the black bracts of its flowers, which resemble the color and shape of the animal. The elongated structures, in the form of threads, give the flowers an even more exotic appearance, making the species also known as cat’s whiskers. It is a plant from Southeast Asia, found in the forests of Malaysia.

The most striking feature of this species native to the eastern United States and Canada is its fruit. From the robust branches of the plant, white and toxic berries, about a centimeter in diameter, are born. The size, shape and black spot of the fruits make the plant known in certain places as doll’s eye.

O Aristolochia salvadorensis It is a shrub native to El Salvador that can measure up to five meters in height. At the base of its trunk, very close to the ground, grows a flower without petals, brighter on the inside than outside, with two whitish spots. The peculiar shape led the plant to become known as “Darth Vader’s flower”, due to its appearance similar to that of the character in the saga. Star Wars.

Originating from the tropical regions of America and Africa, the characteristic feature of the plant is the movement of the leaves. At the slightest touch, they fold, as if they were closing. The reaction to touch works as a defense mechanism against predators: with the leaves closed, the plant appears withered, gaining a less tempting aspect. The peculiarity also serves to reduce water loss in hot weather and as protection against the wind.

This plant produces the largest inflorescence in the world, which means that the set of flowers that sprout from its single stem can reach three meters in height, weighing up to 75 kilograms. It can take up to a decade to bloom for the first time and when it does, the flower lasts three days, dying at the end of the period. Afterwards, the process restarts. Thanks to the strongly unpleasant smell, it is known as the corpse flower.

A relative of cacti, the plant is native to Mexico and several countries in Central America. Its characteristic feature is the white flower that lasts a few hours and does not grow again. Because of its short lifespan and because it usually appears when it is already dark, it is popularly known as the night flower.

In terms of Adansonia grandidieri, well, the popular saying that says “too many caciques for too few Indians” could be adapted to “too many trunks for too few branches”. The trunks of this species, native to Madagascar, have a smooth cortex and can reach 30 meters in height and three meters in diameter. The crown is formed by a few branches, with leaves that grow between October and May.

It has a shape reminiscent of a ball, especially baseball, and that’s where its popular name comes from. Native to South Africa, it has a diameter that varies between six and 15 centimeters. Its flowers give it a perfect appearance for those who want to use the plant as a decorative element. In its wild form, it is in danger of extinction, but it is widely grown in homes and botanical gardens.

Which of these plants would you like to have at home or somewhere? Do you know of another exotic flower that could make the list? Leave your comment!