Top 10 Amazing Plants That Exist In Our Mysterious World

Our world is full of strange creatures and fascinating forms of life. The plant kingdom is no exception, with a massive variety of interesting flora gracing our landscapes.

These extraordinary specimens come in all shapes, sizes, and scents. They all have unique traits that set them apart from the other plants that grow around them.

We’ve prepared a list of the top 10 amazing plants! From aquatic plants and parasitic plants to carnivorous plants and corpse flowers, we’ve got you covered.

Top 10 Interesting Plants In Our World

1. Corpse Flower

The corpse flower is the first on our list of top 10 amazing plants. With the scientific name Amorphophallus titanum, it is one of the most unique plant types you’ll ever come across.

Most flowers you know smell sweet and give off a gentle aroma. Well, the corpse flower gets its common name from the stench of rotting flesh that it emits to attract pollinators.

An analysis of the chemicals this plant produces links the scents to several smells we are familiar with, including feces, sweaty socks, rotting meat, and even garlic.

Where sweet-scented flowers attract pollinators like bees, the corpse flower attracts flies and insects that feed off dead animals.

2. Venus Fly Trap

Arguably the most famous on this list of interesting plants, the Venus fly trap needs little introduction.

With two large leaves that act as two halves of a mouth, this inconspicuous plant lies in wait for its next meal. This carnivorous plant uses a remarkable method to catch and eat flies and other unfortunate small insects.

Tiny plant hairs called trigger hairs react to any contact from curious bugs. If they detect contact, the fly trap readies itself but doesn’t activate. If something makes another contact within a certain amount of time, the fly trap shuts, sealing its victim's fate.

The leaves form a hermetic seal, and the digestion process begins when the insect makes contact with additional trigger hairs.

While the intriguing venus fly trap is the most recognizable carnivorous plant, it isn’t the only one. There are, in reality, over six-hundred carnivorous species with varying methods of trapping prey. Scary thought, right?

3. Tropical Pitcher Plant

We’re on a roll - this is the second carnivorous plant on this list of unique plants.

The tropical pitcher plant seeks to trap its prey passively. The ensnaring method is, however, far more devious than you’d imagine.

Pitcher plants form a deep cavity with their leaves, with an opening at the top. Inside this ‘pit’ is sweet-scented nectar, which attracts crawling forager insects. Upon climbing into the opening, another leaf closes the opening, trapping the insect inside.

The sweet nectar which lured the unsuspecting insect in quickly begins to engulf it. Soon, the very nectar it desired becomes its undoing.

Some pitchers contain larvae that devour the insect. While this may seem bad for the plant, don’t worry. The pitcher absorbs the excreta the larvae produce after eating the insect. In nature, we call this relationship a mutualistic bond.

4. Flying Duck Orchid

These tiny orchids get their name from the distinctive shape the flower forms. This flower serves as an attractant for the process of pollination, but not in the way you might think.

While its shape may appear duck-like to us, the pheromones the flower produces work to lure in male flying insects like flies. For them, this plant resembles a potential mate.

When the fly hovers over to try his luck, pollen from the orchid sticks to him. After facing rejection from the inanimate plant, the insect flies off in search of another mate.

Sadly, he will only fall victim to another catfishing ploy. The next orchid the fly attempts to mate with receives the pollen from the first, leading to reproduction.

If it’s any consolation, Mr. Fly, they weren’t your type anyway. This is certainly a piece of flora for our list of top 10 amazing plants!

5. Dragon Blood Tree

Besides having the best name on this list, dragon’s blood trees are a fascinating feat of nature. They grow to heights up to 30ft and can live up to 600 years.

Their name refers to the deep maroon resin that the tree produces. This resin is easily the most interesting aspect of the plant and the reason we picked this tree to appear in our top 10 amazing plants list.

People in the Mediterranean region use the resin in various situations, highlighting the dragon blood’s versatility. Some use the resin for its medicinal properties. Others use the resin as a stimulant or for lipstick, gluing pottery, and even dyeing wool.

Some cultures believe that the resin is real dragon’s blood, and as such, it is also used in rituals and alchemical recipes.

6. The Sensitive Plant

Sensitive plant flower — *Photo credit:* *Wikimedia*

Mimosa pudica is a creeping annual plant with a fascinating trait. When shaken, moved, or otherwise touched, mimosa pudica droops and folds in its leaves in an attempt to protect itself. A few minutes later, it returns to normal. This earned it a multitude of nicknames, including the shy plant or sensitive plant.

This degree of plant mobility is rare and instantly sets the shy plant apart from the others on this list.

Despite being native to South and Central America, it is now pantropical.

7. Hammer Orchid

The hammer orchid is a strange but beautiful plant. Their most striking characteristic is the large insectoid labellum held in place with a thin stem.

Hammer orchids achieve pollination thanks to thynnid wasps. Thynnid wasps have an unusual mating ritual. Since female thynnid wasps are flightless, male wasps carry female wasps to a food source before mating.

This is where things get interesting.

The labellum of this orchid resembles a female thynnid in shape, color, and even scent. Now, the act of orchids tricking insects into helping them reproduce is common.

This goes a step beyond that since a plant has now tricked an insect into eloping with a facsimile of a female wasp.

The wasp pulls on the labellum, causing the stem to move backward. This causes his thorax to rub against a pollen packet. After growing tired, the wasp will fly off in search of another mate.

For pollination to occur, the wasp must fall into the same trap with another hammer orchid. Doing so will cause the same event to occur. Only this time, because the wasp has another orchid’s pollen on him, pollination occurs.

8. Strangler Fig

When figs grow onto a host tree in a way that harms or kills the host, it’s called a strangler fig. Now, that may sound a little strange, but don’t worry. After all, we’re discussing the top 10 amazing plants here.

Most common in tropical rainforests, strangler figs are invasive species that grow onto trees and other large plant life. They steal natural resources and smother the host. It appears as vein-like growths encompassing the host entirely.

Joining a healthy, living tree is crucial to its survival, almost always resulting in dead trees in the long term. However, South America contains many species that tend not to kill their hosts.

9. White Baneberry

White Baneberry is a flower native to Eastern North America, Eastern Canada, as well as the Midwestern and Eastern United States. Visually, it is unlike anything else on this list of top 10 amazing plants.

The unnatural red coloring with the bulbous white berries on the end of each stem makes it appear almost alien. Its bizarre appearance even earned it the nickname ‘Doll’s Eyes.’ We feel that it is an apt description.

10. Baseball Plant

Baseball plants are subtropical species of succulents native to South Africa. Its name comes from its round, spherical design. The baseball plant’s scientific name is Euphorbia obesa.

In its natural habitat in Southern Africa, it is a threatened species due to over-collection. It’s a popular household plant as it’s low maintenance to upkeep and has an unusual look.

Unfortunately, the species is slow to reproduce and repopulate since a baseball plant only has around three seeds.

Conclusion

No matter how much you understand about the mysterious and magnificent world we live in, there’s always more to know. We hope you’ve found out some interesting facts about these amazing plant species, as well as which ones to avoid.

For more stories on unique nature, stay tuned to Phreeque.com.