Spooky!
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011Trick or Treat!! As Halloween approaches, beware the goblins lurking … in some of the more unique flowering plants out there!
The Titan Arum, which grows in the rainforests of Sumatra, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
Due to its odor, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the “corpse flower”, or “corpse plant”.
A native to Northern California and Oregon, the Cobra Lily was discovered in 1841 by the botanist William D. Brackenridge at Mount Shasta.
This plant is designated as uncommon due to its rarity in the field. A carnivorous plant, it is also called the California Pitcher plant, or Cobra Plant, and it is the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae.
The name Cobra Lily stems from the resemblance of its tubular leaves to a rearing cobra, complete with a forked leaf—ranging from yellow to purplish-green—that resemble fangs or a serpent’s tongue.
The genus Tacca, which includes Bat flowers and Arrowroot, consists of ten species of flowering plants in the order Dioscoreales, native to tropical regions of Africa, Australia, and south-eastern Asia.
Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants for their bold foliage and large flowers. The well-known T. chantrieri goes by the names of Black Bat Flower, Bat-head Lily, Devil Flower or Cat’s Whiskers. Tacca integrifolia is known as the Purple or White Bat Flower.
