The most unusual plants in the world. Amazing things about plants Plants with unusual flowers and fruits
The flora of our planet is so diverse that some specimens, in the process of evolution, completely lost their original appearance and became similar to other life forms. The most unusual plants in the world can truly amaze the observer.
This plant is mainly distributed in the tropical forests of Asia, Australia and Africa. It is also grown as an ornamental plant in greenhouses, sometimes sold on Halloween due to its resemblance to a bat.
One of the orchid varieties comes from the Mediterranean. Popularly referred to as the “naked man.” It is very popular due to the unusual shape of the petals, similar to human figures.
She was popularly nicknamed “whore lips.” Grows in Central America. It has a receptacle in the shape of a woman's lips. Contains hallucinogenic toxins.
People call it “the hand of the devil.” Grows in Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs considered it a sacred plant and used it for ritual purposes.
The tree is unusual not only in its appearance. If the bark is damaged, a red liquid, similar to blood, oozes out. Grows in tropical African forests. The age of some individuals reaches 8–9 thousand years.
The real symbol of Africa is the baobab tree. It has a thick fleshy trunk and an almost complete absence of crown. The fact is that the arid climate forces water and nutrients to accumulate in the trunk during the drought period.
This is a natural wonder from India. Its leaves constantly move with a certain frequency, even in complete calm.
South Africa is considered the birthplace of this “living stone”, but as an ornamental plant it is distributed throughout the world. Lithops are especially interesting when flowers appear.
Tropical plant from the genus Liana. It has unusual fruits, similar to cucumbers. The red core of the ripe fruit is edible and considered a delicacy.
It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in temperate climates. Snapdragon seeds are capsules shaped like a human skull.
Endemic to Angola and Namibia. It grows only in dry areas. Nothing unusual in appearance except age. Some specimens are over 2000 years old.
A member of the Cactus family, it is native to the deserts of Arizona and California. The height of the plant trunk reaches 20 m, thickness - up to 60–70 cm.
This is a predator plant. It uses its pitcher flowers to catch insects. Found in Australia, New Guinea and Madagascar.
Another insect hunter. Grows on the east coast of the USA. It has jaw-shaped leaves covered with sensitive hairs. When insects land on it, the “mouths” slam shut and the victim begins to be digested.
It grows only in the Amazon River basin. The leaves of the plant reach 3 m in diameter and can support the weight of an adult.
The unusual thing is the reaction to external stimuli. If you touch Mimosa pudica, all the leaves curl into tubes, and the branch itself lowers, “hiding.” After a few seconds, the plant returns to its original position.
Its flower reaches a length of 2.5 m. It has an unusual smell of rotting meat, which can be felt several hundred meters away.
Endemic to Bolivia and Peru. The stem of the plant is completely covered with small flowers and reaches 12 m in height. Puya Raymonda blooms no more than once every 150 years.
Interestingly, nature not only gives plants various properties that help them survive and sometimes surprise us. It seems to copy some features of one species in another (just remember the flower-lips or the seed pod that looks like a skull), as if jokingly reminding how everything in it, including people, is interconnected and interdependent.
Every day we see flowers that surround us everywhere - daisies, roses, violets, tulips, chrysanthemums, dandelions, and their beauty has become familiar and even somewhat banal to us.
But in different parts of the planet, flowers grow that are truly amazing and unusual in their adaptability and appearance, and every time you look at this natural miracle, you are surprised by the beauty of the plant world. Let's get acquainted with the most unusual flowers of our planet:
1. Tricyrtis hirta.
This perennial herbaceous plant, reaching a height of 40-80 cm, has white flowers with numerous purple spots.
This decorative flower grows in the subtropical zone of Japan, where there is shade. Tricyrtis shorthair is relatively easy to cultivate.
2. Wolffia angusta.
It is the smallest flowering plant on the planet, measuring between 0.5 and 0.8 mm.
These small flowers live on water surfaces. The name of the flower was given in honor of the German entomologist and botanist Johan F. Wolf.
3. Amorphophallus titanica (Amorphophallus).
It is the largest tropical flower, but despite its natural beauty, it is a very foul-smelling specimen of the flora. The inflorescence emits the smell of decaying flesh. If we translate the name of the flower from Greek, it means “shapeless phallus.”
This giant flower has one of the largest inflorescences in the world, reaching a width of one and a half meters and a height of 2.5 m. Amorphophallus titanica blooms for only two days. Previously, it grew in Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra, but then foreigners destroyed the flower. Today it is considered a very rare flower, and can be seen in botanical gardens around the world.
This amazingly beautiful flower deservedly bears the status of the most romantic and piquant flower on the planet. Because of its bright red inflorescences, people also call it “hot sponges.”
Psychotria loves warmth and moisture and grows in the tropics. Its homeland is the forests of South and Central America, where the subtropical climate reigns.
5. Sexy Orchid Drakaea glyptodon.
The title of “unusual” orchid was won by the “sexy” orchid - the inflorescence of the flower resembles the body of a certain species of wasp. In addition, the orchid secretes pheromones, the same as those released by the female wasp.
Interestingly, the sex orchid begins to bloom during the breeding season of wasps, and then the males flock to the flowers and try to mate with them. This is how wasps transfer pollen from one plant to another. The sex orchid grows in Australia.
In appearance, this amazing flower resembles a flying duck, and that is what people call it. She got this appearance from nature to attract insects called sawflies.
For them, the upper part of the flower resembles a female, and, flying from flower to flower, pollination occurs. The Kalania orchid has miniature dimensions: the width of the flower is 2 cm, and the height is only 50 cm. The orchid grows in Southern and Eastern Australia under eucalyptus trees, and there are 2-4 flowers on the stem.
In most cases, it lives underground, but when the required amount of precipitation falls in the desert, African Hydnora appears on the surface and becomes discolored. The flower reaches a length of 15-20 centimeters. Pollination occurs with the help of beetles that fly to the scent emitted by the flower.
8. Sundew (Drosera).
This is a carnivorous flower of amazing beauty. The inflorescence secretes droplets of mucus, which are a trap for insects.
It is insects that the sundew feeds on. The flower grows in the mountains, on sandstones and swamps.
9. Passionflower (Passiflora alata).
Passiflora or Stratoflower is an amazingly beautiful flower from the genus of the Stratoflower family.
There are about five hundred species in nature. The inflorescence is 10 cm in diameter, and passionflower grows mainly in Latin America.
10. Nepenthes Attenboroughii.
This unusual, interesting flower was discovered on the island of Aalavan by three scientists in 2000, who went on an expedition to find this miracle of the plant world. The first information about the flower was received from missionaries who visited the island earlier. Going to Mount Victoria, scientists discovered huge flowers, the inflorescences of which resembled voluminous jugs.
It turned out that these unusual flowers are real predators that feed on rodents. It still remains a mystery how these flowers were able to survive to this day. This phenomenon is being studied today at McPherson's laboratory. Do you think custom bouquets made from these flowers would be in high demand?
11. Monkey orchis (Orchis simia).
This beautiful flower grows in bushes and forests, where there is a lot of light, in forest glades of the lower (sometimes middle) mountain zone up to an altitude of 1500 m above sea level.
This specimen of flora is a rare species and is listed in the Red Book of Russia. When the monkey orchis blooms, it emits a pleasant orange aroma.
A flower of a genus of epiphytic herbaceous plants of the Orchidaceae family, native to northeastern Australia and southeast Asia.
Habitat: mountain and lowland forests with high humidity. Some representatives of the genus are popular in indoor floriculture, botanical gardens and greenhouses.
13. Clianthus.
This genus of this flower, which prefers sunny areas, includes two species that are endemic to New Zealand.
Clianthus inflorescences are bright red in color and resemble the beak of a kaka parrot in appearance. The flower also has another name - Lobster Claws.
The inflorescence, thanks to its festively colored flowers, resembles a bright caramel lollipop in appearance.
These unusual flowers open only in the presence of bright light, and in the evening the inflorescence, like an umbrella, curls up in a spiral. This beautiful, unpretentious plant lives well at home.
The flower got its name due to the shape of the inflorescence, which resembles a shoe. The original shoe-like shape is characteristic of three orchid genera.
Most of the species grow in deciduous and located in areas with a temperate climate. The bright flowers of the slipper are a kind of trap, and most of the insects get inside the lip, and you can get out of there in a way that guarantees pollination.
16. Hoya.
An evergreen liana from the family Persianaceae, wax ivy, growing naturally in India, Southern China, and Australia.
The genus Hoya, numbering 200 species, was named after the English gardener Thomas Hoya. Lianas creep in nature, and in forests they grow on tree trunks.
17. Primrose “Zebra Blue”.
Large primrose flowers have a yellow center, an attractive cream coloring, permeated with many blue-violet veins.
During flowering in May, primrose produces many inflorescences that emit a pleasant aroma.
This Flora specimen is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Campanula family. A plant with small, broadly lanceolate flowers that are predominantly blue. There are 300 varieties of bells in the world (100 of them in Russia), and they grow in places with a temperate climate: in the Caucasus, Europe, Siberia, Asia, America.
The plant grows in the forest, near rocks, in wastelands. Peach bell is a rare plant that belongs to the ornamental species. This is an excellent honey plant, listed in the Red Book.
This flower grows in North America, and in Russia it can often be found in gardens, where it is used to create beautiful flower beds. 22 types of flowers are found in the wild - these are spikes of zygomorphic flowers, painted with bright colors of blue, yellow, and purple.
The inflorescences resemble a lion's mouth or even a skull. The appearance of the Snapdragon flower, which has already bloomed, looks quite scary and resembles a skull.
20. Orchid “Dove” (Peristeria Elata).
This flower has a bizarre and even unusual shape, reminiscent of a dove hiding in the open petals of the inflorescence. The flower is very capricious and requires special care: high temperature and humidity.
This unusual flower also has a second name - the Holy Spirit Orchid, and on Easter, Christian believers in the tropics decorate churches with these orchids.
21. Hazel grouse (Fritillaria).
This is a wonderful perennial flower. The Latin name fritillus means a vessel or chessboard in which the dice are placed. These names are not given in vain - they are associated with the color and shape of the flower. In Russia, the name was given due to its external resemblance to a bird of the grouse family.
When looking at this unusual flower, it seems that the bird has bowed its head low. The hazel grouse blooms for a short time - about 20 days. Moles, mice, and shrews are afraid of it, so the hazel grouse is simply necessary in flower beds and garden beds.
Japanese camellias are trees or shrubs that reach a height of one and a half to eleven meters. This plant is ideal for a greenhouse or cool-temperature conservatory.
The homeland of camellia is Japan and China. It is the official flower symbol of the state of Alabama.
23. Rafflesia (Rafflesia arnoldii).
Rafflesia grows on the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, the Philippines, and the Malay Peninsula. Inside its huge bowl, 5 to 7 liters of water can collect. The flower has neither leaves nor stem.
In Asia, this amazingly beautiful white flower is edible, and the leaves and tendrils of almost all types of trichosanthus are eaten as green vegetables.
There are original curls at the tips of the petals. This flower has also been used for medicinal purposes.
25. Common catchment or Aquilegia.
It is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Ranunculaceae family, growing in parks, forests, and meadows. The species' range covers Scandinavia, southern and central Europe.
In Russia, the flower can be found in the European part. Flowers with a diameter of 4-5 cm are brightly colored - purple, blue, pink and, very rarely, white.
26. Great White Heron Orchid (Habenaria Radiata).
This amazingly beautiful flower also has another name - Habenaria.
Its beautiful and large pearly white inflorescence, framed by a wide fringed lip, in appearance resembles a white heron in flight.
This is a member of the legume family. The flower is often cultivated as an ornamental plant in countries with tropical and subtropical climates.
The flower grows in tropical and wild forests of the Philippine Islands.
28. Tacca chantrieri.
This perennial plant with a developed vertical rhizome is a species of monocotyledonous flowering plants of the Dioscoreaceae family.
The inflorescences and young leaves are still used to make curry, and the rhizome has found use in Thai medicine.
This snow-white, rarest flower on the planet, growing on the islands of Sri Lanka, resembles a water lily in appearance. The life of this flower is short - it blooms at midnight and fades by dawn.
According to ancient legend, during the short flowering period of the kadupul, a mythical snake-like demigod creature named Nagi descends to the earth. He picks a flower to present it to the Buddha himself on the holy mountain of Sri Pada.
The plant world is very attractive and diverse. On our planet there are a total of approximately 360,000 species of plants, which include flowers, herbs, trees, and shrubs, surprising with their beauty and sometimes with their original appearance. We invite you to familiarize yourself with ten of the most amazing plants in the world, some of which look like people from other worlds.
If you see a cluster of rafflesias, you may get the impression that you have arrived on some other planet, where there are incredibly amazing plants and creatures. The unpleasant aroma of the flower attracts a huge number of flies that pollinate the plant. Despite such a nasty smell of the plant, the inhabitants of the islands (Sumatra, Java), where it grows, have long used it to make medicines. For example, there is an opinion that an extract from flower buds improves male potency and allows women to restore their previous shape after childbirth.
It is a dwarf tree that can live up to two thousand years. It is one of the most amazing plants in the world, since its leaves can independently curl towards the center. This is vital for the plant, because in this way the leaves collect moisture from the mists and move it to the roots.
The plant has a short trunk (it looks like a stump), from which a pair of leaves diverge in different directions. When they grow, they tear longitudinally into particles, and the tips of the leaves dry out. In a year, Velvichia leaves, despite the tips drying out, grow by about 8-15 centimeters. Typically, the leaves grow up to eight meters in length, and they can grow up to 1.8 meters in width. The dwarf plant adorns the rocky deserts of Angola. Since Velvichia needs fogs, it grows no further than 100 kilometers from the ocean shore.
This plant also has a terrible smell of rotting meat, so you won’t be able to admire it for a long time. Most plants of this species have huge flowers. Their diameter can be one and a half meters, and they grow up to 2.5 meters in height. The island of Sumatra, where you can see this flower, smells quite strongly of the smell of these plants, which, by the way, are used by local residents as medicine and for adding to various dishes.
This is one of the most amazing plants in the world, which can be called a “predator” because it lures insects into its “nets”. By digesting its “prey”, Nepenthes receives the nutrients necessary for development. Its leaves are a kind of pitchers, inside of which there are cells that secrete a special nectar that attracts insects, and hairs that do not allow insects caught inside the pitcher to get out. On the slippery surface of the leaves, insects always roll into the water, the volume of which in a jug is sometimes up to two liters. After the insects have drowned, the production of special enzymes begins, allowing them to “digest” food, which can even be mice, birds or rats.
This plant, which can be found on the Atlantic coast of the United States, is also one of the “predators”. True, it acts more aggressively towards its “prey” - its leaves are a kind of jaws that slam shut immediately after insects (or even snails, frogs) get inside. During the life of a Venus flytrap, it catches an average of three insects. The “prey” of the plant is digested in about ten days.
A distinctive feature of this plant, which is found in the Bolivian and Peruvian Alps, is the presence of a large inflorescence - its height can be twelve meters, and its diameter can be up to 2.5 meters. As a rule, an inflorescence contains 10,000 simple flowers. Upon reaching the age of 150 years, the puya blooms, and after flowering the plant dies.
Also called the “silver apricot,” the plant originated 16,000,000 years ago, so it can quite reasonably be considered the oldest on the planet. It is a tree whose height can reach thirty meters. The lifespan of a ginkgo can be 2,500 years. The leaves of a relict Chinese tree are used by local residents to create medicines, the effect of which is still very doubtful.
The plant is also called “saguro cactus” because it belongs to the cactus family. Its habitat is California, Mexico, Arizona. The main feature of the cactus is its size - it can grow up to 15 meters. The largest representatives of this plant species even weigh 10,000 kg. The Carnegia flower has 3,500 stamens, which are so large that birds create nests on them.
This most amazing plant in the world grows in South America and is the largest water lily. It can be up to three meters in diameter. Not only a child, but also an adult weighing no more than 50 kg can easily be placed on a huge and durable leaf of Victoria Amazonica. The plant has different shades at different times of the day. White flowers above the water can be seen in the evening, and by morning they hide under the water. They emerge again in the afternoon, appearing as a floating leaf of pink, purple or crimson color. The plant blooms for a couple of days, after which it finally disappears under water.
This plant, which is the tree with the most spreading crown, grows in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. Its main feature is the formation of powerful branches, from which many branches go down, tending to take root and produce new trunks. But they can dry out “on the way” before they reach the ground. The tree, growing at a rapid pace, can occupy entire hectares of space. The most famous Ficus is called the Great Banyan, which can be seen in the Indian Botanical Garden (in Howrah) - where it covers an area of 1.5 hectares.
Nature is inexhaustible in its imagination. A clear confirmation of this are plants, the appearance and adaptability of which is amazing. A selection of nature’s most unusual plants will help demonstrate the scope of natural creativity.
1. Dancing bush Desmodium gyrans
The semaphore plant, native to tropical Asia, is amazing for its ability to move rhythmically. Rotational jerky movements are performed by the lateral leaves of the flower collected in bunches, describing a complete ellipse with the tip in 30-40 seconds. In this way, they create directed air flows, protecting the crown from overheating.
The plant can wave its leaves tirelessly, provided it has enough moisture and sun. When unfavorable conditions occur, the movements stop, and the flower itself goes into a dormant state.
A relict plant that looks like a giant hypertrophic cactus is common in the southeastern part of Asia. It belongs to the genus "dracaena", the name of which is literally translated from ancient Greek as "female dragon".
The age of the long-lived plant reaches 7-9 thousand years. During this period, it forms a trunk up to 20-25 meters high with a diameter at the base of 5-7 meters. Its exact age cannot be determined, since the trunk does not form traditional growth rings.
The red, resinous juice released when the trunk is cut is called “dragon’s blood” by local residents. When it hardens, it turns into a glassy mass, which in ancient times was used for embalming.
3. Upside Down Baobab Tree
Amazing thick trees of the genus Adansonia, as if growing with their roots upward, are found in Australia, Africa and on the island of Madagascar. The lifespan of centenarians reaches 1000 years.
The name “inverted tree” was given to the plants by local residents. They believe that the ancestor of the baobab was a man who angered God, for which he was turned into a thick tree and planted upside down in the ground.
The thick trunk of the tree is crowned with a fancy crown, which is decorated with miniature leaves. You can see greenery three months a year. The rest of the time the tree sheds its leaves, thereby reducing water loss.
The fluid reserves needed to survive drought-resistant periods are stored inside the trunk, whose thick bark prevents them from evaporating. The volume of reserves of individual trees reaches 120 thousand liters. Adaptability allows the tree to survive calmly during a dry period that lasts up to ten years.
4. Predatory monster Nepenthes
The carnivorous plant, which lives in the tropics, has unique pitcher-shaped leaves that act as traps.
The plant lures insects into a trap in two ways:
- produces sweet and fragrant nectar flowing into a narrow “neck”;
- attracts with foliage patterns that are visible only under ultraviolet light.
Sitting on the jug, the insect slides with its paws and falls into the “throat”, drowning in the liquid filling the lower part of the trap. The victim is digested by the enzymes of the same liquid by the plant in 5-8 hours.
The volume of liquid diluted with rainwater in a jug can reach two liters. Large specimens of this plant predator easily lure and devour even vertebrates: rats and mice, frogs and birds.
5. African ascetic Velvichia
An amazing plant growing in the barren desert of Namibia resembles a pile of garbage from a distance. This effect is created by leaves twisted around themselves in the form of a turban.
In dry conditions, the plant survives due to its long root, which can reach three meters in length. Bizarre six-meter leaves with numerous stomata, crowning a trunk that looks like a huge stump, help it retain and absorb moisture formed during fog.
The age of the dwarf tree reaches 2000 years. It existed on the planet back in the era when dinosaurs roamed it.
6. Giant Saguaro Cactus
The cactus, which reaches a height of 15 meters, a girth of 3 meters, and a weight of about 10 tons, is found in northern Mexico, in the states of California and Arizona. The age of the giant reaches almost a century and a half.
The branches of the cactus take on an unusual shape, resembling a fan, a palm with outstretched fingers, or even the figure of a dancing person.
A cactus flower forms 3.5 thousand stamens. The size of the flower is so large that birds use them to make nests.
7. Queen of the stinkers Amorphophallus
One of the largest flowers on the planet, native to India, Asia and China, it is known for its disgusting smell. The flower, as tall as a man and weighing as much as a hundredweight, exudes the smell of rotten eggs and rotten meat in the area.
Outwardly, it looks like a titanic ear of corn. The pistil rises on a short stalk above a cone-shaped flower with yellow-burgundy petals.
The giant lives for 35-40 years, during which it blooms a couple of times. During the flowering period, the temperature of the cob rises to 36°C. Due to this, the smell quickly evaporates, attracting insects that pollinate the plant.
8. Creepy Rafflesia Flower
The record-breaking flower looks like a huge fly agaric. The size of the five fleshy petals of the giant reaches 100 cm and weighs 10 kg. The flowering period lasts 3-4 days. After it withers, it turns into an unattractive black mass.
The plant is interesting not so much for its bizarre pancake-shaped flowers, which, when blooming, exude a suffocating, rotten smell of rotting meat, but rather for its adaptability. It has no roots, green leaves or even stems.
A cluster of amazing flowers with thick petals, covered with thousands of warts, somewhat reminiscent of alien formations.
9. Venus flytrap killer plant
The predator, named after the goddess of beauty, looks terrifying.
The plant has become famous for taking active measures to kill its prey. Incredible reflexes help the predator eat insects and frogs. When luring its victims, the Venus flytrap, like other predator plants, uses double tactics:
- releases aromatic seductive nectar;
- Thanks to its fluorescent glow, it attracts victims in cloudy weather.
But the “smart” plant eats all the sacrifices. It calculates whether food can replace the energy spent on digestion. If not, the flytrap releases the insect.
Eucalyptus Deglupta is attractive not only in its height, which reaches a height of 100 meters with a trunk girth of 2.5 meters, but also in its variegated colors. When you look at the trunk, you get the impression that it is covered with multi-colored strokes of paint.
This effect is achieved by peeling off strips of bark at different periods of time, which changes color with age.
The young bark of a bright green hue as it matures acquires purple and bluish touches, which are later diluted with pink-orange “notes” and at the final stage with brown-crimson tones.
You can admire the beauty and get a boost of energy from such a positive tree in southeast Asia.
Did you know that the tallest trees are over 100 meters tall? Have you heard anything about plants that can “kill” and “eat” animals? In this article you will learn a lot of surprising, interesting and even shocking things about the life of plants.
Amazing things are nearby! It would seem that everything around us is so familiar and ordinary that there are very few things around that can capture the human imagination. In fact, the master Nature painted many pictures with a magic brush and created countless beautiful creations, scattering them chaotically across all corners of the planet.
Therefore, anywhere in the world there is always the opportunity to witness a miracle - fantastic and extraordinary. Amazing animals and plants delight, delight and make people talk about themselves.
It is simply impossible to describe all the unusual plants. However, we can talk about the most famous representatives. Let it be the giant round water lilies of Victoria Amazonica, the “fragrant” flowers of titanium amorphophallus, a unique multi-colored tree - rainbow eucalyptus, predatory nepenthes, evergreen ficus bengal.
Cranberry
The most useful plant on Earth.
Cranberry is an evergreen subshrub with creeping thin shoots up to 80 cm in length. The stems are flexible, woody, dark brown, with erect flower-bearing branches and short thread-like fluffy annual branches.
Cranberries contain vaccinin glycoside, flavonoids, vitamin C (30 - 35 mg%), organic acids: citric (12.8%), benzoic, oxoglutaric, quinic; sugar (glucose, fructose) from 3 to 6%, pectin and dyes, vitamin C (10 - 22 mg%), K, nitrogenous and tannins, phytoncides, manganese, iodine, silver, barium, lead. In addition, they are rich in potassium and iron. In terms of the content of biologically active substances and mineral salts, cranberries are one of the most useful wild berries.
The pharmacological properties of the berry have anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antibacterial, restorative, wound-healing, refreshing, tonic effects, increase elasticity and strength of the walls of blood capillaries, improve appetite, food absorption, secretion of gastric juice and pancreatic juice, and intestinal activity. Cranberry reduces prothrombin levels in the blood.
The berries are widely used for gastritis with low acidity of gastric juice, colitis, inflammation of the pancreas, obesity, and when prescribing a salt-free diet. They enhance the effect of antibiotics and other drugs for cystitis, nephritis, gynecological inflammatory diseases, and protect against the formation of kidney stones.
Berries with leaves improve metabolism, reduce headaches and heartburn.
Syrup, juice, fruit drink quench thirst, help lower temperature, have a diuretic, bactericidal effect, improve sleep, function of the endocrine glands, reduce headaches, fatigue, give vigor, and improve general condition.
Black Orchid Fredclarkeara .jpg)
The black Fredclarkeara orchid is one of the most elegant and expensive flowers in the world. This is a complex hybrid of three types of orchids. The plant has beautiful leaves and tulip-shaped flowers of deep black color.
Flowers with a delicate spicy-sweet honey scent are collected in a brush on a long peduncle. This amazing hybrid was created by American hybridizer Fred Clark. He received many awards for his strikingly beautiful orchid. This is interesting: in 2006, the scent of the black orchid Fredclarkeara inspired Tom Ford to create his masterpiece - the perfume of the same name Black Orchid. The cost of one plant reaches 8,000 rubles.
Welwitschia is amazing (Welwitschia mirabilis).
This desert dwarf tree can be up to 2000 years old. From the short stump-like trunk of the plant, two huge leaves extend in both directions, which, as they grow, tear longitudinally into ribbons, and the tips dry out. These giant leaves are as old as the tree. The leaves continually grow from the base and the tips die back. In some cases, the length of the leaves can reach 8 meters and the width 1.8 meters.
Kadupul .jpg)
The Kadupul flower is one of the rarest flowers in the world. Its cost cannot be determined, since it is not sold in any flower shop. The second name of the flower is “Queen of the Night”. It is unique in that it only lives for a few hours, which is why it is shrouded in legends. Kadupul grows in Sri Lanka. This cactus flower blooms at nightfall and fades after a few hours. Kadupul has a subtle unusual aroma and delicate white petals.
acai berry
The Acai berry is a small, round, dark purple berry, similar in shape to a grape or blueberry, but with a modest amount of pulp but a large seed. The berry grows in clusters on palm trees in northern South America in the Amazon Delta, most common in the Brazilian state of Pará. Palm trees grow in groups of 4-8 trees. The height of the trees is from 12 to 20 meters, and the diameter is modest, only 15-20 cm.
The healthiest berry on Earth (along with cranberries) is exactly this! Such a concentration of useful substances contained in just one berry is almost impossible to find in any other product.
Vitamins - A, B1, B2, B3, C, D
Minerals - potassium, magnesium, copper, calcium, zinc
Amino acids - omega 3, omega 6, omega 9
Helps with:
allergies,
removing toxins from the body,
diabetes,
obesity,
high blood pressure,
enhances memory and immunity.
The most rainbow tree in the world 
No, this tree was not covered in paint. This is how nature intended it.
Very bright, very beautiful and no less unusual trees can be seen in the Philippine Islands. These trees are called rainbow eucalyptus.
The word rainbow is present in the name of this amazing plant for a reason - their bark shimmers with almost all the colors of the rainbow: yellow, orange, blue, green, purple and brown. Even with a close acquaintance with the eucalyptus, it seems that its bark was painted by an abstract artist. However, multi-colored stripes and spots are of natural origin and even serve as something of an indicator of the age of the bark.
Rainbow Eucalyptus (Latin: Eucalyptus deglupta) (English: Rainbow Eucalyptus, Rainbow Gum, Mindanao Gum) is an amazing tree that grows up to 70 meters in height, and its bark can be colored yellow, green, orange and even purple. Rainbow eucalyptus is the only type of eucalyptus that grows in the northern hemisphere. The natural habitats of this tree, i.e. its range lies in Indonesia, New Guinea and the Philippines. Currently, rainbow eucalyptus can be found in South America, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China and some other countries where this tree is also cultivated.
In 1929, rainbow eucalyptus was first discovered in the Hawaiian Islands, where individual trees can reach 75 meters in height. The most remarkable and unusual phenomenon - the presence of multi-colored bark is explained by the fact that this same bark peels off at different times, and its different colors are unique indicators of the age of the bark. When a tree has recently shed its bark, the new outer bark at this location on the trunk will be a bright green color. Over a long period of time, the bark gradually darkens and changes its color from blue to purple. Later still, it becomes dark burgundy or orange.
Eucalyptus deglupta
Thus, almost all the colors of the rainbow can be found on the trunk. Looking at the photograph of the trunk of a rainbow eucalyptus, one gets the impression that this pattern was painted by some abstract artist and one cannot believe at all that this is a beautiful creation of nature.
Unfortunately, rainbow eucalyptus trees, despite all their beauty, are not protected at all, since they are widely used throughout the world to create high-quality white paper. This is the most ideal tree, the processing of which produces a special ingredient for creating paper. In this case, eucalyptus wood is mechanically and chemically processed into a special dry fibrous material, which is later soaked in water and used in the technological process.
The conversion of wood into paper has increased in the last few years. Of all the eucalyptus trees processed into paper, only 16% were specially grown. 9% are old forests, and 75% are forests of the third generation and higher. These trees grew for decades to eventually be processed into small amounts of paper.
In addition, the pleasant, light-colored wood of rainbow eucalyptus is successfully used in small shipbuilding and furniture production. It is because of stacks of paper sheets, tables and boats that hundreds of trees are cut down every year around the world, affecting not only new plantings, but also natural forests.
However, recently there has been a positive trend of increased cultivation of rainbow eucalyptus and reforestation. If you want to see a living Rainbow Eucalyptus in all its glory, you need to travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea or the Philippines - the natural habitats of this tree. However, the tree has also been cultivated in South America, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China and some other countries
Much more interesting is the question of what makes the trunks of rainbow eucalyptus trees so bright and unusual. This seems like a real miracle. It’s as if the trunk was doused in several layers of different paints, and they were chosen specifically - the most contrasting ones.
But if you look closely, it becomes clear that this is the result of a kind of “molting” of the thin bark. We can observe a similar phenomenon in our latitudes in the pine forest. Like pine trees, rainbow eucalyptus replaces old bark, which peels off in narrow strips, curling and falling off, with new bark.
But the color of the rainbow eucalyptus bark directly depends on age. The young bark has a bright salad shade, gradually it darkens, becoming dark green, but the color change is not limited to this and now the bark strips gradually fade into bluish-silver, almost blue, violet, from which - into purple, orange, darkening into eventually to dark burgundy.
Orion 
This is the evergreen Sequoia (Sequoia sempervirene), which grows in Redwood Park, all in the same California. The height of the tree is 112.63 meters, and the diameter of the trunk is 4.33 meters. 5 National Geographic Society
Stratosphere Giant 
The fourth place is occupied by the sequoia, which has a very appropriate name - the Giant of the Stratosphere. The height of this tree is 113.11 meters, and the trunk diameter is 5.18 meters. This plant is located in Humboldt Park.
Passiflora
This beautiful plant also seems to come from other worlds. The unusual flower led missionaries who saw it in South Africa to the allegory of the savior’s crown of thorns.
This is where the second name of one of the most unusual plants in the world came from - passion flower (passion of Christ). Passionflower is a woody climbing vine with more than 500 species.
Orchid Shenzhen Nongke .jpg)
The Shenzhen Nongke Orchid is one of the most expensive flowers in the world, created by human hands. A team of breeders from China worked on its creation for 8 years.
The orchid is valued at 16 million rubles. Such a high price of a flower is due to its beauty, uniqueness and the cost of its creation.
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Lithops - the most amazing plants in the world Lithops (“living stones”) are also representatives of the flora of hot Africa and the most amazing plants in the world. Outwardly, they resemble cobblestones with a diameter of about 5 centimeters, which is an unusual way of camouflage in the sultry desert sands.
The plant has two fleshy leaves and a short trunk, which smoothly turns into a root and goes deep underground in search of moisture. In autumn, the silent “stone” picture is enlivened by yellow, white, pink flowers, highlighted by bright tassels.
grass tree 
Does everyone already know that BANANA is a herb? But there is another herbal tree, Xanthorrhoea Grass Trees. These strange-looking grass trees dominate much of the Australian landscape.
Xanthorrhoea has other names - yellow gum, "kangaroo tail" or "black tail". The grass tree is endemic to Australia.
Xanthorrhoea (Xanthorrhoea), a genus of evergreen monocotyledonous plants of the Xanthorrhoea family (formerly they were combined with Liliaceae). 11-12 xerophilous species characteristic of dry savannas of Australia. Tree-like forms, sometimes slightly branched, bearing at the top a rosette (or rosettes) of large (up to 1 m in length) rigid linear leaves and a skirt of dead leaves. Based on its growth form, Xanthorrhoea is classified as a so-called herbaceous tree. These are slow growing but very durable plants. They live up to 600 years.
Xanthorrhoea australis has thin, long leaves similar to grass. It grows naturally in the rocky hills of southwestern Australia. It is called the Australian Grass Tree or Kangaroo Tail. During forest fires, the lower dead leaves burn, exposing the trunk and covering it with soot. The tuft of leaves at the top resembles a mop of hair. For this, the Australian aborigines nicknamed Xanthorrhea the black boy. The same fires stimulate the appearance at the top of the trunk of a long flower arrow covered with white fragrant inflorescences. The leaves, stems and roots of the plant are edible.
The trunk is not actually made of wood. The leaves secrete a thick resin, which hardens and forms the trunk. The substance of the barrel does not burn well, but it melts like sealing wax. Inside this, one might say, plastic pillar there is a core of fibers that feed the leaves. The name means "red current" and comes from the color of the resin secreted by the leaves, which hardens and turns black.
Fan palm 
The homeland of the Ravenala, as you might guess, is Madagascar. Residents of the island chose this plant as their national symbol, and now it even flaunts on the planes of Madagascar airlines.
Ravenala Madagascar belongs to the monotypic genus of the family Strelitziaceae. That is, this plant has no immediate relatives and is, in fact, a shrub with a single trunk. The banana can be considered one of its distant relatives, but its leaves grow directly from the ground, unlike the Madagascan ravenala. This plant is very decorative and always attracts attention.
Ravenala has a squat, straight trunk, from the top of which huge leaves grow like a fan. The crown of the tree resembles a fan or a loose peacock's tail. There are up to thirty leaves in the “vane” of the ravenala. In young plants the trunk is hidden underground, in adults it can be up to four meters in height. And the leaves of Ravenala are much longer - up to seven meters. Their edges are frayed and torn by the wind, which gives the ravenala a very colorful appearance.
The long cuttings of Ravenala leaves are rolled into tubes in which water accumulates. The significance of this moisture in the life of the plant itself has not yet been clarified, but one tree can accumulate two or three buckets of water. It is believed that the Madagascar ravenala was nicknamed the tree of travelers for this very reason: supposedly, a tired traveler can quench his thirst with its help.
However, this is hard to believe, since the water in the leaves of Ravenala is far from pure and has an unpleasant odor. It is teeming with microorganisms, and you can also find small amphibians... Unless a traveler dying of thirst would be tempted by such a drink. But there is another explanation for the name: the crowns of equals growing in nature are oriented strictly from west to east.
This feature of the plant can really help a traveler with determining the cardinal directions.
In the trunk of the ravenala there is no system of vessels, as is usual in trees; only the roots of the plant have such vessels. The fan tree can bloom almost all year round; its small creamy white flowers form long inflorescences peeking out from the axils of the leaves. The fruits are brown oblong capsules in which seeds ripen, wrapped in blue “flies”. When birds eat the seeds, these wrappers in their stomachs are worn away. And the seeds themselves then come out and germinate perfectly thanks to this treatment.
Ravenala is found not only in Madagascar, it also grows in Panama. In addition, the plant can often be found in botanical gardens and greenhouses, since gardeners highly value it for its decorativeness and unpretentiousness.
Bloody tooth
On planet Earth, next to the beautiful representatives of the flora, there are such amazing plants of the world that you should beware of in order to avoid possible negative consequences. For example, the deceptively pretty mushroom is the bloody tooth.
Externally similar to a delicious dessert or strawberry-flavored chewing gum, it is extremely poisonous. Droplets of red liquid on the velvety white surface resemble blood, although in reality the plant itself produces this secretion through its pores. The fungus feeds on soil juices and insects attracted by a cunning bait - that same blood-red liquid. Thanks to the bright veins, the mushroom, whose height is 2-3 centimeters, is clearly visible against the background of foliage and dry needles.
Dancing tree
There are amazing plants in tropical Asia; one of them is Desmodium rotatum (aka “telegraph plant”). Reaching a height of 1.2 meters, with elliptical leaves and small flowers collected in racemes, it can dance.
This fascinating action, causing joy and surprise, occurs under the influence of sunlight. The lateral leaves begin to move along a certain trajectory, with their tips describing a complete ellipse in half a minute. The rotation has a jerky character and resembles messages transmitted in Morse code, which gave the flower its second name. At night, the plant sleeps, gaining strength for the next charming dance.
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The genus Amorphophallus, as well as the genus Rafflesia, is famous for its “subtle aroma” of decaying flesh. The smell coming from the flower is terrible. Few people are able to admire the amorphophallus without a gas mask. The flower of most representatives of this genus is huge in size (Especially the species shown in the photo, Amorphophallus titanum) and can reach a height of 2.5 meters with a diameter of 1.5 meters. In many eastern countries, the tubers of this plant are used in the preparation of various culinary dishes and medicines.
White Raven, or doll's eyes
White crow, or doll's eyes, is an unusual plant not for the faint of heart. The fruits that appear on it in the second half of summer really most resemble doll's eyes mounted on a branch. The homeland of the white crow is the mountainous regions of North America. The plant is poisonous, but does not pose a mortal danger.
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Opuntia Bigelow is probably one of the most amazing species of the Opuntia genus of the Cactus family. The photo above was taken in California's Joshua Tree National Park. In the photograph, the entire desert landscape to the horizon is covered with amazing fluffy cacti, up to two meters high. In the rays of the setting sun the landscape looks fantastic. The person here has the impression that he, as part of a space expedition, landed on another planet covered with unknown life forms.
Carnegiea gigantea
Carnegia gianta (Saguaro) is another amazing plant of the Cactus family. The most amazing feature of this cactus is its gigantic size. The height of individual plants is about 14 meters, and the diameter is more than 3 meters! Moreover, the age of individual cacti reaches 150 years.
General Sherman 
General Sherman is a specimen of the giant sequoiadendron (Sequoiadendron giganteum) growing in the "Giant Forest" of Sequoia National Park in California, USA. In terms of volume, it is the largest tree on Earth. The height of the General Sherman tree is 83.8 m, the trunk volume is estimated at 1487 m³, the weight is 1900 tons, and the age is 2300-2700 years.
The General Sherman tree is the largest and heaviest living organism on our planet. However, it is neither the tallest sequoia (this record belongs to the Hyperion tree, which belongs to the sequoia evergreen species), nor the tallest representative of sequoiadendrons (specimens with a height of 95 m are known, but they have a smaller volume). It is also known that the Crannell Creek Giant tree, a type of evergreen sequoia, cut down in the mid-1940s, growing near the city of Trinidad, had approximately 15-25% greater volume than General Sherman
In the nineteenth century, explorer John Muir called the area where the famous tree grows the “Giant Forest” when he discovered giant sequoias. The name of this part of the park, "Giant Forest", remains to this day. Many tourists describe the General Sherman tree, which is striking in its size, as a red-orange “rock”, the top of which is impossible to see.
Tourists specifically come to the park to see the General Sherman tree, named after Civil War hero General William Sherman, and to take photos. Next to the sequoia they seem so fragile and small.
For a long time it was believed that the General Sherman tree was over three thousand years old, but recent research has determined its exact age - exactly two thousand years. This means that this is not the oldest tree in the world.
The oldest tree in the world, a special species of California pine, was 4,484 years old when it was cut down in 1965. Sequoia trees that were about 3,000 years old were also cut down. It is believed that 5,000 trees still exist on Earth.
In the winter of 2006, the General Sherman tree lost part of its crown, the largest branch of the tree fell off, the diameter of which was about two meters and the length was about 30 meters.
Scientists are worried: is the tree really dying? However, they came to the conclusion that this incident does not indicate any problems in the condition of the tree, but may only be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions.
When the branches fell to the ground, the fence around the tree and the road leading to it were destroyed. Even after this, General Sherman's tree did not lose its status as the largest tree on the planet.
There is a special path leading to General Sherman's tree, and even people with disabilities can see this miracle. At the end of the path there are brick tiles, which show where the roots of the tree reach.
Each year the giant's trunk grows nearly 1.5 cm in diameter. The General Sherman Tree is still growing and, according to the California State Park website, is adding enough wood each year to fill a five or six-room house.
Tallest palm tree in the world 
The Ceroxylon quindiuense palm (Quindio wax palm) is the national tree of Colombia. It grows only in high altitude areas in the Cocora Valley and is the tallest monocot in the world.
Naturally, Ceroxylon quindiuense is also considered a palm tree that grows at the highest altitudes. Cocora is the only place where it grows. The palm tree can reach fifty meters in height, and its lifespan can even exceed 120 years. The total area of the Palm Valley is more than sixty thousand square kilometers. The elevation difference is from 1800 to 2400 meters above sea level. The regular cutting down of palm trees for wax forced the government to pass a decree banning logging, with penalties including execution.
The Cocora Valley is the most amazing tourism destination in Colombia. It is located in the Condio Valley department and is part of the Nevados Natural Park, which covers an area of 58,000 hectares (580 km2) in total, including the north-eastern part of Condio. The name of the valley, according to some sources, comes from the name of the princess of Quimbayan or the name of a local bird.
The great pride of the valley is the wax palm that grows here - the main plant symbol of Colombia. It grows up to 50 meters in height and is considered the tallest tree in the world. The wax of this palm provides habitat for many fauna, including the endangered yellow-eared parrot. Other faunal inhabitants live in the valley, such as the spectacled bear, mountain tapir, and hummingbird. Also, the wax from the trunk was used to make candles, and the outer part of the stem was used to build houses. Thus, the number of palm trees has sharply decreased, so the entire range of flora and fauna is protected by the status of a national park in Colombia.
The climate in the Cocora Valley is generally warm, with occasional westerly winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean, thereby creating a humid environment for the growth of tropical forest; at high altitudes, rain falls almost daily. The temperature changes very sharply, even within one day. The average annual temperature is 15°C, with a maximum of 25°C and a minimum of -2°C
The valley attracts many tourists, with more than 150,000 people visiting it throughout the year. Most tourists make one-day visits. It is a great place for camping, horse riding, hiking, mountain biking, river swimming and other activities. In local restaurants in the valley, you can taste baked trout in various sauces. Cocora is the most beautiful valley in Colombia.
Local farmers are mainly engaged in raising cows and goats, as well as growing coffee, since part of this territory is part of the famous Colombian Zona Cafetera. 90 percent of coffee is exported. Therefore, it is very difficult to find really good coffee in Colombia, even in the holy of holies.
You can get to the Cocora Valley as follows. From Medellin or Bogota by bus to Armenia, and from Armenia to the town of Salento, where there are hotels and everything you need. You can get a good look at the valley itself and the mountains by going on a modest 5-hour hike along the Acaime and La Montana tracks. After suffering for 4.5 hours, you come out just in time to the valley, which spreads out below in all its emerald splendor. If you don’t have your own transport, then at 9 am a jeep leaves from the main square of Salento.
Amazing plants - candy trees
Every child's dream is an unlimited number of sweets and delicacies, and even on tree branches! - turns out to be reality. Like other most amazing plants in the world, this is a tree with strangely oblong-shaped fruits that taste like caramels, as if they came from a fairyland.
Popularly it is called candy, and among botanists it is called sweet govenia. Fragrant berries, the taste of which strongly resembles barberries, can be eaten directly from the branches, so it is not surprising that they serve as the basis for jams and preserves, juices and tinctures, compotes and syrups. Wine made from the fruits of the candy tree has healing properties, having a beneficial effect on the body.
In Tibet, goveniya was considered a cure for all diseases; this plant has been valued in Babylon and India since ancient times. In Rus', since the 17th century, it was grown specifically in apothecary gardens on the instructions of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Eating fruits helps not only to enjoy a pleasant taste, but also to overcome anemia, prevent blood clots, slow down oxidative processes, restore the elasticity of blood vessels, remove toxins from the body and revive damaged cells. Along with a lot of useful properties, fasting, strewn with bright red “candy”, is incredibly beautiful. In spring, this huge tree is covered with golden inflorescences, spreading an amazing aroma, while autumn allows you to fully enjoy the colorful foliage of the plant.
It is not for nothing that the candy tree adequately represents the amazing plants of Russia.
The most famous mega-water lily .jpg)
Victoria Amazonica is the world's largest water lily and the most popular greenhouse crop. Its leaves reach a diameter of 2.5 m and can support a weight of up to 50 kilograms. The outer surface of the plant is green and covered with a waxy coating that repels excess moisture. The lower part is purplish-red in color and is equipped with a network of spine-studded ribs that protect against herbivorous fish and accumulate air bubbles for retention on the water surface. During the season, the water lily is capable of producing about 50 leaves, which grow and occupy a significant surface of the reservoir.
This negatively affects the growth of other representatives of the flora due to the lack of sunlight. Victoria Amazonian flowers are located under water and bloom for 2-3 days once a year. This happens exclusively at night over the water surface; with the onset of dawn, the flowers return to the underwater kingdom. When open, the buds reach a diameter of 20-30 centimeters.
On the first day, the petals are white, on the second - pink, on the third, the flowers become dark crimson or purple. The plant, which received its name in honor of Victoria, Queen of England, is common in the Amazon River basin in Brazil and is found in the waters of Guyana, which flow into the Caribbean Sea. In natural conditions, it can live up to 5 years.
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Most plants from this genus can be called, without exaggeration, “predators”, which obtain the necessary missing nutrients by “digesting” captured insects. The plant has modified leaves that resemble pitchers in shape. The inner surface of the jug is lined with cells that secrete nectar, which serves to attract insects, as well as “hair cells” that make the release of an insect caught in the net impossible. The surface of the “neck” of the jug is very slippery, so there is practically no chance for an insect walking along the neck not to slip down. The insect falls into the water (in some species the jug can contain up to 2 liters of water) and drowns. Next, enzymes are produced that completely “digest” the insect. Sometimes not only insects, but even mice, rats, and birds are trapped.
Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) .jpg)
The Venus flytrap is an even more amazing “killer plant” that takes more active measures to kill its prey. The modified “jaw” leaves of this plant encroach on the life of not only insects, but also the life of snails and even frogs.
You can “enjoy” the rest of Venus flytrap’s amazing “combat feats” on video here.
Porcupine Tomato
Porcupine Tomato is one of the most unusual plants in the world with huge thorns. This is a one and a half meter weed from Madagascar, decorated with beautiful purple flowers. But it is very difficult to pick them, since the leaves of the plant are protected by long, poisonous orange thorns.
It was named tomato for its fruits, which look like small tomatoes. Many unusual plants of the world, in the course of evolution, have learned to take the form of other living beings. The flowers of the duck-billed orchid, for example, are very similar to tiny two-centimeter ducks. In this way, the plant attracts insects - male sawflies - for pollination.
Ficus benghalensis
At first glance, it may seem that the photo above depicts a forest. In fact, it is one single tree. Ficus Bengal forms powerful branches to support which shoots grow, which, falling down to the ground, take root, forming powerful columns-trunks.
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Also called the “silver apricot,” the plant originated 16,000,000 years ago, so it can quite reasonably be considered the oldest on the planet. It is a tree whose height can reach thirty meters. The lifespan of a ginkgo can be 2,500 years.
The leaves of a relict Chinese tree are used by local residents to create medicines, the effect of which is still very doubtful.
Great Banyan 
This tree, which grows in the Indian Botanical Garden, has a large crown area. The age of this wonderful tree is approximately 200-250 years. Banyan, whose second name is Ficus Bengali, belongs to the Mulberry family.
The red fruits are not edible, although they are attractive to look at. But inedible for humans, the fruits are happily eaten by birds and animals. The Great Banyan grows from the ground with many aerial roots. From a distance, a lone tree looks like a small grove. Entering the “grove” you also cannot say that it is one tree. Before your eyes, the roots of the tree look more like the trunks of separately growing trees.
Ficus Bengalis is widespread in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The unique ability of this tree is the ability of the crown to grow in a circumference of up to 610 meters. Scientists have noted another feature of this type of tree. Seeds that have passed through the bird's gastrointestinal tract are able to germinate.
Evergreen sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens)
Sequoia evergreen is the tallest tree on our planet. Our temperate forests are mere grass compared to the forest of these mighty giants. The height of many trees exceeds 110 meters, and their age is more than 3500 years! Previously, houses were hollowed out in sequoia trunks and even tunnels were cut through which roads passed. In windy weather, many visitors to the forest of giants feel uneasy from the noisy “grinding” and swaying of the mighty sequoia trunks. Grows in California.
Parachute Flower Ceropegia Woodii
If in the 18th century, when this unusual plant was first described, they knew about airplanes, it would have been called that way. It belongs to succulents and forms a dense interweaving of thread-like shoots. The plant feels great at home and is used for decorative purposes.
Ongaonga (Urtica ferox) or New Zealand nettle tree.
This plant has a tree-like trunk, and its spines are unusually dangerous. They contain formic acid and histamine. The nettle tree can reach 5 meters in height; the slightest touch to it results in a painful burn. There are known cases of horses, dogs and at least one person dying from tree poison. Interestingly, the plant is the main food of the larvae of the Red Admiral butterfly.
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Puya Raymonda of the Bromeliad family, native to the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes, has the largest inflorescence with a diameter of 2.5 meters and a height of about 12 meters, consisting of approximately 10,000 simple flowers. It is a pity that this amazing plant blooms only when it reaches 150 years of age, and then dies.
Saffron
Saffron (Crocus sativus) is one of the most expensive flowers in the world due to the fact that its stamens are used to make the spice of the same name. Saffron has been known since ancient times. The golden-orange stamens of the small lilac flowers are picked by hand and then dried. Each saffron flower contains only three stamens. To get 500 g of spice, you need to process up to 100 thousand flowers. The average cost of 500 g of spice is $1,500.
Wolffia angusta
It is one of the most unusual plants in the world due to its tiny size. This is an aquatic plant of the duckweed subfamily.
The size of the wolffia is negligible - about a millimeter. It blooms very rarely. Meanwhile, in terms of the amount of protein, the plant is not inferior to legumes and can be used for human food.
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The rainbow roses created by a Dutch flower company seem to have been created using Photoshop, their colors are so incredible and amazing. The difficulty of growing them has made these roses one of the most expensive flowers in the world. Amazing rainbow-colored roses - the invention of Peter Van de Werken. He and his colleagues spent six months developing the optimal method for growing rainbow roses. The idea was to divide the flower's stem into several channels and pass water of different colors through each. Thus, it was possible to create a unique technology for growing multi-colored roses. Since this process is extremely labor-intensive, rainbow roses are quite expensive - about $10 per flower.
Cedar of Lebanon 
The Cedar of Lebanon is one of the most majestic trees in the world. These amazing trees grow only on Mount Lebanon, a mountain range that stretches the entire length of the country, and cedars once covered the entire mountain. It is a symbol of the country, its pride, and is even featured on the Lebanese flag.
Cedars of Lebanon have impressive trunks with a dense canopy that become characteristically flat-headed when the trees grow noticeably. Their bark is dark gray, but the tree has a beautiful light color, the wood is tough and surprisingly resistant to external influences. Cedars secrete a unique resin that has a sweet aroma. The trees always remain green all year round and always exude a fragrant aroma. They say that God himself planted these cedars.
“The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,” declares the Bible (Psalm 104:16-17), and “The righteous blossoms like the palm tree and grows like the cedar of Lebanon” (Psalm 93:12).
These are just a few of the many references to the Cedar of Lebanon in the Bible and other ancient texts. In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, the cedar forests of Mount Lebanon were considered the kingdom of the gods, protected by the demigod Humbaba. In the 4,000-year-old Epic of Gilgamesh, often considered the earliest surviving written work, the hero Gilgamesh defeated Humbaba, entered the virgin forests, and cut down large quantities of cedar trees, from which he built the city walls of the Sumerian city of Uruk.
Indeed, the cedars of Lebanon were known in ancient times. Indeed, cedars played a key role in the formation of early human civilizations. Cedar of Lebanon was one of the most respected building materials in the ancient world. The Phoenicians used cedars to build the ships on which they sailed the Mediterranean, creating one of the world's first maritime trading powers. The cedars of Lebanon were also used by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Persians to build houses and temples, the most famous of which are the Temple of Jerusalem and the palaces of Solomon. The Egyptians used cedar resin for the mummification process, and the Jews used Lebanese cedar bark to treat leprosy (leprosy) and as an antiseptic for circumcision. The Turks used cedar wood as fuel for steam locomotives because it burned much better than traditional oak trees.
Even in the time of Gilgamesh, Egypt was already cutting down large volumes of cedar for the construction of ships, and for export. This continued for several thousand years, until the 20th century, when British troops in World War II finished off the remaining forests, cutting down cedar trees to build a railway.
The Roman Emperor Hadrian tried to protect forests in the second century AD with boundary markers carved into the rocks. More than 200 of these signs have been discovered by scientists, allowing them to calculate the approximate volume of the forest at that time.
In 1876, Queen Victoria ordered the construction of a protective wall around 102 hectares of the grove, but deforestation continued despite these measures. Cedar forests were cut down until the end of the 20th century, when cedars were declared a protected natural resource. By the way, this huge forest was reduced to just a few hundred specimens, which grew in a few isolated areas.
According to Lebanese sources, today there are 18 such areas of distribution of cedars. One of these groves, called the Cedars of God, is located in a protected gorge of the glacial Makmel Mountains, in the Qadisha Valley. This grove contains about 375 trees, which are considered the oldest in Lebanon. Four of them are many hundreds of years old, they reach a height of 35 meters and their trunks are 12-14 meters across. About a thousand saplings have been planted at the entrance to the grove in recent decades, but due to their slow growth it will take a long time before they mature.
The grove was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
Baobab 
A tree with a very original trunk and crown grows in the dry savannah climate of tropical Africa and belongs to the large Malvaceae family. The second name of the tree is “Andonisia digitata,” named after one of the African explorers, the Frenchman Michel Adanson.
A distinctive feature of the Baobab from other trees is the structure of its leaves. They are 5-7-fingered on this tree.
This is one of the thickest trees growing on Earth. With a height of 18-25 meters, the diameter of the Baobab trunk is 8 meters. It's amazing that this tree can shrink in size. During the dry period, Baobabs have learned to reduce their volume and, in order to consume less moisture, shed their leaves. This tree does not have growth rings like other trees, so the age of this representative of the plant world is difficult to determine. Scientists took a specimen with a trunk diameter of 4.5 meters and radiocarbon determined the age of the tree to be 4,500 years old. Baobab is widely represented in heraldry.
The tree is the symbol of the island of Madagascar and is depicted on the coats of arms of the Central African Republic and Senegal.
