Really Weird Plants

The Giant Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum is truly a giant, reaching heights of up to 6 feet with the largest one ever recorded reaching a staggering 9 feet high. That's just the flower; the plant itself can reach up to 20 feet high, 15 feet across and up to 170 lbs in weight. The plant only flowers every 1 - 3 years and the flower only lasts about 2 days so consider yourself lucky if you actually get to see one in bloom. However, you may not be so lucky as the Corpse Flower has a terribly wicked odor - one of rotting eggs or dead animals, hence the name Corpse Flower, so you really don't want to get too close.

photo source: http://www.gardening-advisor.com/corpse-flower.html

The Nipple plant also known as the Cows Udder plant is a hardy perennial with large velvety leaves, small purple flowers and firm thorns. Its showy yellow nipple shaped fruit is related to the tomato. Unlike the tomato however, it's quite poisonous. It does have some medicinal properties though and can also be used as a detergent for washing clothes. The fruit can even last up to two months which is a long time in relation to fruits. It is native to South America.

photo source:http://www.gardening-advisor.com/cows-udder-nipple-fruit.html

Another plant that has a really foul smelling flower is the Rafflesia arnoldii. This flower is actually the largest single flower in the world (though you may hear that the corpse flower is, when actually the flowers of the corpse flower are tiny and found clustered at the base of the stem) and can grow up to 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 lbs. Like the Corpse Flower above, it is found in the rainforests of Sumatra. And like the Corpse Flower, its odor is similar to that of rotting meat, again to attract insects that pollinate it.

photo source: http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/flower.html

This is the flower of Hydnora africana, a plant from the Hydnoraceae family. All plants in this family are parasitic. The Hydnora africana emits a putrid smell from a structure within it called a bait body. This smell attracts its main pollinators which are dung beetles. Numerous stiff bristles found on the inner surface of the bait body restrain the trapped beetles from escaping. After feeding on the bait bodies, the trapped beetles drop down the flower tube onto the anthers collecting pollen all over their bodies. They then drops even further down onto the soft cushion-shaped stigma thus pollinating the flower.

Most striking is this plants complete lack of leaves making it look more like a fungus than a plant and it really is only distinguishable from fungi when the flower has opened. Although it has no leaves, it does have roots and stems which all grow underground. It produces a fruit, also underground, which is edible and very starchy. A fully grown, ripe fruit from a Hydnora africana may measure up to 80 mm. The fruit is slightly sweet and contains up to 20,000 small pinhead sized seeds. These fruits are enjoyed by mammals such as porcupines, moles, baboons, jackal and also birds. The seeds are not digested and can therefore germinate when excreted by animals.

Hydnora africana is found in dry and semi arid areas from the western coast of Namibia, southwards to the Cape and then northwards throughout Swaziland, Botswana, KwaZulu-Natal and as far as Ethiopia. It is not easily encountered but it is not considered rare or endangered.

photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HydnoraAfricanaKarasburgDistrictNamibia2002Musselman.jpg

Perhaps you think you've seen it all but have you seen the plant that can actually walk? The walking palm is a palm tree native to the rainforests of central and South America. Its stilt like roots enable it to walk, towards the sun at a rate of 1 meter per year.

photo source: http://travel.mongabay.com/pix/peru/manu-Manu_1022_1870.html

photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Welwitschia_mirabilis(2).jpg