There are hundreds, if not thousands of strange plants that inhabit the flora of our planet, but these ten make it to the top of the list of the strangest plants in the world. These plants have such a weird, yet daunting aspect and look more supernatural than natural. Get your eyes ready to see never-before-seen plants and discover this creepy collection of nature's 10 strangest plants in the world.
10 Strangest Plants That Dwell On Our Planet
As if our planet wasn't impressive enough with new plant species being found every single day, these 10 strangest plants will certainly cause a haunting impression. Be aware, that they are here to cause a shocking statement and let you know that there are amazingly unique plants that live on our earth. And now that Halloween is coming up, you can also read the article '7 Spooky Plants in Honor of Halloween Coming Up' to start those Halloween vibes.
Photo by University of Tasmania.
1. White Baneberry (Actaea Pachypoda)
White baneberry is a small ball-type-shaped plant native to North American forests. It is also known as doll’s eye because of its specially shaped fruits that do indeed give a weird look and feel to the plant. Its red thick stems also look very attractive, but it's very important to take into account that the fruits of white baneberry are toxic. This plant is definitely one of the strangest plants in the world!
Photo by @ian_trought.
2. Japanese Blood Grass (Imperata Cylindrica)
Japanese blood grass earns its name from its blood-red haunting spikes. This is unquestionably one of the 10 strangest plants in the world. Being a perennial plant, Japanese blood grass is popular with gardeners because of its bold color, but would not really be a great option to place in a garden because of its scary look. This strange plant is also very flammable, burning at higher temperatures than native grasses which can lead to wildfires.
Photo by @theseattlegardener.
3. Witches Hair (Cuscata)
This is one of the strangest plants on the planet that takes us to a spooky Halloween decor night. Witches' hair, also known by the spooky name of strangle weed, is a genus of over 200 different parasitic plants. It is native to tropical climates but also appears in temperate areas, including the UK. Often identified as a mass of green, brown, or orange spaghetti-like substance hanging from other trees, this is for sure one of the 10 strangest plants that live in our world. It lacks chlorophyll so it needs to feed on other plants to reproduce.
Photo by @mojavedesertsasquatch83.
4. Hemlock (Conium Maculatum)
Looks so beautiful, and seems like you could have it in your backyard, but the truth is that this tiny plant is a poisonous invasive plant that can grow to heights of 2.4 meters. Although its appearance does not look strange, it is the roots and its level of poison that make it one of the 10 strangest plants in the world. Specifically, its seeds and roots are very poisonous, and if being deadly was not enough to keep you away from this plant, hemlock also has a repulsive smell that can be carried by the wind. In ancient Greece, hemlock was used to poison prisoners, including the philosopher Socrates.
Photo found on Gardening Know How.
5. Carrion Plant (Stapelia Gigantea)
Being a flowering plant native to the desert regions of Tanzania and South Africa, the carrion flower, aka toad flower or star-shaped flower earns its name from its absolutely repulsive smell. It's considered to be one of the strangest plants in the world due to the rotting-flesh odor it releases to attract flies to pollinate it. Just imagine this, the plant smells so terrible that scientists are working on ways to use it as a human appetite suppressant.
Photo by @wilderness.and.blossoms.
6. Cobra Lily (Darlingtonia Californica)
As the list continues, this plant definitely has a place in the 10 strangest plants to be ever seen. The cobra lily is a carnivorous plant that grows in bogs. Its name comes from its tubular top which resembles a cobra's head, while its forked leaf looks like a tongue. The plant traps insects by luring them in, and once the prey is inside, light shining through the translucent hood prevents it from finding the way out. It's trapped in there forever!
Photo by Gardening Know How.
7. Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus Titanium)
The corpse flower, hence its shape, is another plant that reeks of rotten bodies when blooming. Corpse flowers can take five to ten years to bloom for the first time and may take another two to ten years to bloom again. It is known as one of the strangest plants to inhabit earth as it has the largest unbranched group of flowers on the main branch, reaching heights of up to 3 meters. You can imagine why, in some countries, this plant goes by another nickname: penis plant.
Photo by @barnardcollege.
8. Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
The most iconic and known carnivorous plant award goes to... the Venus flytrap! The plants' uncanny, seemingly sentient nature even made Charles Darwin describe the plant as "one of the most wonderful in the world". The plant uses sweet nectar to attract flies, then when one lands and triggers the fine hairs within the trap, the plant closes around the fly and digests its soft tissue with an enzyme.
Photo by @wicked.plants.qld.
9. Black Bat (Tacca Chantrieri)
The black bat plant has large black flowers which measure 30 centimeters and sprout "whiskers" coming from the center of the plant which reaches 70 centimeters in length. Being one of the strangest plants on earth due to its weird shape, texture, and color, it is found primarily in southeast Asia and prefers forests and valleys in shady areas.
Photo by @jiffyplants.
10. Ghost Plant (Monotropa Uniflora)
Giving all the spooky vibes you need for an upcoming Halloween, the ghost plant gets its nickname from its unusual coloring—transparent. Due to the fact that it completely lacks chlorophyll and does not need to photosynthesize due to its symbiotic relationship with fungi, it gets its nutrition through parasitism. The benefit of this is it gives it a dainty glow and the ability to grow even in the darkest forests.
Photo by @rbgcanada.
Look out for the Strangest Plants on Your Next Trip
If you're bound to visit some tropical forests, whether it be all the way in the Americas or tropical forests in Asia, you can probably encounter some of the strangest plants shown in the article, and many others as well. Also, if you're a plant advocate and love the idea of finding new species and plants, it's best to find a specialized plant professional who could guide you into your next forest adventure finding more and more strange plants around the earth.
