10 of the World's Strangest Plant Species

Welwitschia mirabilis:World's Most Resistant Plant
It's not pretty to look at, but Namibia's plant Welwitschia Mirabilis can truly claim to be one of a kind. There really is nothing like it. Welwitschia plant consists of only two leaves and a sturdy stem with roots. That's all! Two leaves continue to grow until they resemble the shaggy mane of some sci-fi alien. The stem thickens, rather than gains in height, and can grow to be almost 2 meters high and 8 meters wide. Their estimated lifespan is 400 to 1500 years. It can survive up to five years with no rain. The plant is said to be very tasty either raw or baked in hot ashes, and this is how it got its other name, Onyanga, which means onion of the
desert.

Dionaea muscipula: the Venus Fly Trap

The Venus Fly Trap is the most famous of all carnivorous plants 

due to the active and efficient nature of its unique traps. It may be

famous, but it's also threatened. The plant's two hinged leaves are

covered in ultra sensitive fine hairs that detect the presence of

everything from ants to arachnids. Trigger the hairs and snap! 

The trap will shut in less than a second.

Rafflesia arnoldii: World's Largest Flower

There is one exotic and rare plant you wouldn't likely want to 

grow anywhere near your landscape no matter how famous it

would make you for doing so. That would be growing the largest

flower in the world. This exotic, very rare, speckled, though

not particularly pretty, rust colored flower is called Rafflesia

Arnoldii.

Rafflesia Arnoldii, recently assigned to the Euphorbiaceae family,
is the biggest individually produced flower in the world. It gets to
be 3 feet across and weighing a whopping 15- 24 pounds. That's
pretty darn big but still you would not like this flower in your
perennial bed. Why is that? If you could mimic a rainforest
type environment for this plant, it gives off a most offensive
odor when in bloom. This scent is somewhat like rotting meat.
This is why it is often called the Corpse Plant by some natives
of Indonesia where it originates.

Its blossoms only last three days to a week. But in those few
days it needs a miracle or two just for survival. This hideous
smell it produces attracts pollinating insects to it to help perpetuate
the species. But even when this happens only 10-20 percent
of the tiny seedlings make it. With any luck in nine months it blooms.

Desmodium gyrans: the Dancing Plant

Darwin called the plant Hedysarum; modern botanists call it 

either Desmodium Gyrans, or more correctly these days, 

Codariocalyx Motorius. Its common name is Dancing Grass

or Telegraph Plant or Semaphore Plant -- after the leaf 

movements, which resemble semaphore signals. For all of its

uses this plant is easy to grow, dancing happily on a sunny 

windowsill and watered when dry. Some say it dances best

to the "Greatful Dead!"

Euphorbia obesa: the Baseball Plant

Euphorbia Obesa, also known as the Baseball Plant, is endemic

to the Great Karoo region of South Africa. Unsustainable 

harvesting by plant collectors who value Euphorbia obesa for

its interesting and curious appearance has severely impacted

wild populations. Consequently, national and international 

legislation have been enacted to protect remaining populations.

While Euphorbia obesa remains endangered in its native habitat,

it has become very common in cultivation. By growing large 

numbers of Euphorbia obesa, nurseries and botanical gardens

have been working to ensure that specimens being traded and

sold among plant collectors are not obtained from the wild.

Amorphophallus titanum: the Corpse Flower

A flower taller than a man, stinking strongly of putrefying roadkill

and colored deep burgundy to mimic rotting flesh, sounds like

something from a low-budget science fiction movie. But Indonesia's

titan arum—or "corpse flower," as known by locals—is a real,

if rare, phenomenon, pollinated in the wild by carrion-seeking

insects. This Indonesian plant, called titan arum or amorphophallus

titanium, has the world's biggest inflorescence. Due to its fragrance,

which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the

Titan Arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower",

or "Corpse plant".

Baobab: the Bottle Tree

Baobab is the common name of a genus (Adansonia) containing

eight species of trees, native to Madagascar, mainland Africa

and Australia. Also known as the Bottle Tree, not only do they

look like bottles, but the trees typically store around 300 liters

of water! No wonder why they often live over 500 years!

Dracaena cinnabari: the Dragon Blood Tree

Dracaena Cinnabari is a Dragon Tree native to the Socotra 

archipelago. It is also referred to as the Dragon Blood Tree 

and Socotra Dragon Tree. It is one of the most striking of 

Socotra's plants, a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree.

It was first formally described by Isaac Bayley Balfour in 

1882. A miniature Icon of this tree is in Windows as

Network-Icon. Its red sap was the dragon's blood of the ancients,

sought after as a medicine and a dye.

Mimosa púdica: the Shy Plant

Mimosa Pudica (pudica = shy), or the Sensitive Plant, has a 

curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop 

when touched or shaken, re-opening within minutes. The species

is native to South America and Central America, but is now a 

pantropical weed. Who would know that plants have feelings too?

Selaginella lepidophylla: the Resurrection Plant

Also known as Rose of Jericho, the Selaginella Lepidophylla is

a species of desert plant noted for its ability to survive almost 

complete desiccation; during dry weather in its native habitat, 

its stems curl into a tight ball and uncurl when exposed to

moisture. It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert.