These 8 flowers all reveal something exciting
Given their popularity, it is quite likely that you have at least once in your life heard about the flower Dionée catch-mouche , the best known of carnivorous plants. This, like other famous plants, is so original that their “status” has made endangered species in some areas where they grow wildly. Feeding flies, spiders and other small insects, Dionaea muscipula is exciting and attracts curiosity, but there are other flowers in the vegetable kingdom that are equally interesting. Although you’re not likely to find many of them in your garden, here’s a small zoom on these unusual plants.
Utricularia gibba
The plant is considered to have the most sophisticated mechanism (among carnivores or others) in the known whole of the plant kingdom. The pockets suspended to submerged branches have an articulated “door” that remains closed until no prey occurs to it. When the meal finally arrives, the membrane opens and the water flows into the pocket with the poor prey, such as a vacuum cleaner. This carnivorous aquatic plant can be found on almost every continent. The plant has another peculiarity, that of make the sort in his DNA .
The Rafflesia arnoldii or "cadavre flower": the world's largest flower
Rafflesia arnoldii is characterized as having the greatest true flower on Earth. It grows in the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra, and can reach a diameter of 92 cm and weigh up to 10-11 kg. But there is another peculiarity that makes this flower interesting: it smells like the flesh in decomposition, which is worth the nickname of "flowered flower". The stench has a functional purpose, as it attracts flies, beetles and other insects for pollination.
Rafflesia arnoldii is one of the three national flowers in Indonesia, and the government officially declared it as a “common flower” in 1993. The flower has received this status because pollination is very difficult, requiring insects to visit male and female flowers in this order. In addition, this flower only lives a few days. It is actually a plant parasite of tropical lianas that has no leaves or roots and grows on its host plant. The aerial parts of the plant are summed up to its flower that produces a putrid odor. And while humans are increasingly encroaching on tropical forests, the "flower flower" seems to be on the verge of extinction.
The Arum titan or “Titan phallus”: the world’s largest flower
Indonesia has the peculiarity of having not one but two plants commonly called “body flowers”. But unlike the Rafflesia arnoldii , which grows near the ground, Amorphophallus titanum can grow up to 3 m – 3 m 65 in the air, with a spathe that, when it deploys, reveals a central spadice that recalls the form of a huge miche of bread. Others will make a different comparison. Hence his nickname “ titan phallus”.
The flower, also called Arum Titan , flowers only a few times during his 40-year life cycle. When this happens, the flower exhales, during the first 8 hours, a scent of rotten meat attracting beetles that pollinate it. This smell is so strong that it is detectable at 800 meters. Once the smell is diffuse, birds are attracted to the bright colours of the flower, which come to eat the seeds and sow them in other places for a new shoot.
L’Hydnora africana
It looks like a strange creature coming from a foreign planet, but the Hydnora africana is a plant that lives almost entirely underground, feeding on the roots of other plants until its fleshy flowers and worms begin to grow through the soil. Like other plants already mentioned above, this flower also has a repugnant smell, similar to that of excrements. Despite its coriace appearance with a kind of teeth-like hair, the plant is not carnivorous. "Childnappeuse" would be the appropriate term.
The plant, which is located in South Africa, uses its horrific odor to attract natural pollinators, bousiers and charognard beetles. Once trapped inside the plant, insects remain trapped for a few days until they are sufficiently covered with pollen to be able to fertilize other plants from the outbreak of the plant.
The Nepenthes lowii
It is also referred to as "pichet plant", for its form. And again, it is a carnivorous plant in fascinating Indonesia. Some voracious plants are known to have trapped and digested things such as birds and mice. However, the mystery remains whole about how the Nepenthes lowii digests the meat it consumes. In fact, botanists are still discussing whether the plant feeds on fecal matter of animals or not, especially those of the scandentians (a range of musaraignes).
Nepenthes lowii has a distinctly different shape from most other carnivorous plants. Scientists note that it only rarely catch insects in its tanks. The plant secretes a white substance, like crystals, on the lower face of its "cover". It is thought that its "sweet" taste attracts small mammals and acts as a laxative so that it can collect the excrements of the animal. Studies show that plants get from 57 to 100% of their nitrogen from the defecation of these animals.
Tacca chantrieri (or bat or devil flower)
There are only very few black flowers in the vegetable kingdom, and for this reason, the "sourish flower" attracts much attention from collectors and gardeners. If Tacca chantrieri belongs to the family of yams (Dioscorea), it has nothing to do with the sweet potatoes. On the contrary, it has large dark leaves and long filaments descending like moustaches.
Originally admired for its green foliage, the Tacca chantrieri grows wild in the rainforest of Yunnan province in China, but in recent years it has been cultivated commercially to satisfy gardeners in Europe and America who want something really rare for their small gardens. For those who find the black bat plant too scary, a white species has recently been cultivated. They proliferate better in tropical climates with high humidity.
The Mimosa Pudica or « sensitive plant »
The one that is also known as the "shy plant" is very appreciated by school teachers to attract the attention of young students. It grows like a weed in the tropical regions of Central America and South America. It is also found in Australia. The alternate leaves have the peculiarity of getting back to the slightest shock (wind, rain, touch...), which in botanical jargon is called thigmonastia. The retraction of the affected leaves begins in the 10th second after contact. Once the calm returns, the leaves resume their position.
It is one of the most spectacular movements of the plant kingdom, due to small swellings at the base of the leaves. These swellings, called pulvinus , are composed of specialized “motor” cells and are inflated with water. At any touch, this water is evacuated in the surrounding tissues, activating the leaf fold.
Hydnellum peckii or Blood Mushroom
Technically, it is not a plant, but a mushroom. But his strange character could not appear in this article. Nobody knows what to think of Hydnellum peckii . Some call it "fashion tooth that bleeds", others called it "fresh tooth" or "devil tooth". The link that is actually made with the teeth comes from its lower part, which is sprinkled with small cylindrical and conical excretions that produce spores.
Unfortunately for those who call it "fresh" or "creams at strawberry", it is not edible. It grows in North America, Europe and has recently been discovered in Iran and South Korea. It is a mycorrhizian mushroom, that is, in its natural habitat, it grows on the roots of various conifers, which feed on the fungus while it helps to improve the soil quality around the tree. As they grow older, they brown, lose their bloody stains that make their “success” and regain the appearance of ordinary wild mushrooms.
Photo source: All that Is Interesting
Loading comments ...