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Made You Look: Oddball Plants That Will Have You Doing a Double Take šŖ“
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items If you love strange and unusual plants, youāre sure to take a fancy to these ones (most of which tend to be of the perennial and tropical persuasion) ā¦ if not by keeping them, then by vicarious enjoyment through the efforts of other plant parents!
Nature should be treated with reverence and care (whether or not you also have children and pets)!
Note: This list may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission (at no extra charge to you) if you make a purchase using these links.
Nature should be treated with reverence and care (whether or not you also have children and pets)!
Note: This list may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission (at no extra charge to you) if you make a purchase using these links.
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This succulent is an eyecatching beauty for its stunning black to deep purple leaves. There is a tree version that I am fortunate enough to visit every summer!
Aeonium Black Rose (aeonium arboreum zwartkop)
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The most colorful members of the corvoidea superfamily (yes, thatās right - crows) have an equally stunning (if not more so) equivalent in the plant kingdom.
Bird of Paradise Flowers
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This easy-to-care, drought-tolerant plant wasn't named for ZZ Top (believe it or not), but it's a lot easier to pronounce than zamioculcacs zamiifolia. Also known as Zanzibar Gem, there are varieties of this indoor plant that als comes in black!
Black ZZ Plant (zamioculcas zamiifolia)
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If there was ever a cactus that symbolized Easter, this has to be the one. Those white short spikes are still sharp ā so resist the urge to pet or hug it!
Bunny Ear Cactus
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Rikki Tikki Tavi (remember that cute children's storybook protagonist?) may be thinking twice before taking on this carnivorous (insectivorous) plant, which resembles a cobra that's ready to strike!
Cobra Lily Plant
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The blood red, brain-like flowers are a sure-fire way to grab your attention!
Cockscomb Flower (celosia argentea)
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If you believe that the leaves make the plant (just as much as the flowers), then the corkscrew-shaped leaves of the albuca concordiana is sure to grow on you!
Corkscrew Albuca (albuca concordiana)
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With a stench that has been likened to soiled diapers to attract flies (BTW, I didnāt find the reputed aroma that offputting), the massive Titan Arum (which can put forward inflorescences with heights of 10 ft tall and have corms weighing as much as ...
Corpse Flower (titan arum)
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Thanks to its bulbous trunk and base, the Desert Rose is the closest thing you'll get to a bonsai tree (without putting in the decades of pruning and sculpting to achieve the same effect, that is). :)
I have the variety that produces a lovely profusion of hot pink flowers during the growing season.
I have the variety that produces a lovely profusion of hot pink flowers during the growing season.
Desert Rose (adenium obesum)
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Also rather poetically known as hell's bells, this upward-blooming beauty is grown purely for ornamental reasons as all parts of it are Incredibly toxic to humans (swordbill hummingbirds are drawn to the nectar of this member of the Solanaceae family...
Devil's Trumpet Flower (datura)
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Easy to care for and an instant stunner with its plump and compact semi-transparent green leaves.
Haworthia Cooperi
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You donāt have to be a fan of the Rolling Stones to appreciate these endangered Costa Rican natives (but please, donāt pucker up and kiss them!)
Hooker's Lips Plant (psychotria elata)
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This plant smells like buttered popcorn ā but ONLY at night! I remember waking up to this delicious smell and absolutely craving some Redenbacherās!
Hoya Heuschkeliana
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I am a proud owner of 2-year-old lithopses. They ask for so little, in exchange for a little time on the windowsill. They rewarded me last year by producing flowers for the first time. :)
Lithops aka "Living Stones"
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If the name does not pique your interest, the look of this carnivorous tropical plant will! Those cups hold a thick and sticky liquid to entice insects to enter ā permanently!
Monkey Cup Plant (nepenthes)
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If these flowers have visages that resemble monkey faces (specifically mandrills or Japanese snow macaques ā to me, anyway), you're not hallucinating.
Monkey Orchid (dracula simia)
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If you love the smell of buttered popcorn, youāll love the popcorn cassia! This is a perennial plant that can be grown indoors in the continental US all year long.
Popcorn Cassia Plant (cassia didymobotra)
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Itās as pretty as it is odoriferous. The rotting meat smell of its huge flowers gives the aromatic corpse flower a run for its money.
Rafflesia arnoldii
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This adorable petite succulent not only produces beautiful pink blooms, but a rainbow of colorful spines, too!
Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus (echinocereus rigidissimus)
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Perhaps the most iconic insect-eating plant out there, the beautiful but deadly tropical Venus Flytrap actually requires a steady diet of bugs if it canāt catch enough of them (plus lots and lots of sunshine!) and low-quality soil!
Venus Fly Trap (dionaea muscipula)