The most beautiful and unusual flowers in the world. The most beautiful plants in the world: description and photo The most unusual flowers on planet earth

Flowers have always been popular at all times. Since ancient times, they have been used to express complex emotions - love, loyalty, memory. In addition, for hundreds of years, flowers have been used in the treatment of the sick and for aromatherapy treatments. Today, cut flowers are most commonly used. They make up bouquets and whole flower arrangements designed to express certain feelings. Here are 10 interesting facts about colors:

The stinkiest flower in the world


Amorphophalus from Sumatra is considered the most smelly plant in the world. For its unique aroma, similar to the smell of decomposed meat, it is also called a corpse flower. In addition, amorphophalus is known as the tallest flower. The plant can reach a height of up to 3 meters.

The cost of tulips


Tulips are the most sold flowers on our planet. In their homeland - Holland - more than 3,000,000,000,000 of these plants are grown every year. But, in addition, flowers are delivered to Russia from Ecuador, Colombia, and most European countries. And one of the best suppliers of tulips to Russia is the Dutch company Jaaz Flowers & Plants B.V., by the way, on the official website of the company you can buy flowers in bulk at competitive prices with delivery to any region of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries. By the way, the peak price of tulips came in the 17th century. In those days, tulip bulbs were worth more than gold. The cost of individual varieties could reach up to 2 thousand dollars. Now tulips have more affordable price. Another fun fact about these flowers is that their petals turn out to be a good alternative to onions in some recipes. Tulips are one of the first flowers to hit the market in spring. This is a kind of symbol of this time of year.

Gladiolus - flower-symbol


Gladiolus got its name from the ancient Roman word "gladius", which translates as "sword". This is due to the fact that the appearance of the flower is very similar to the gladiatorial sword - a weapon used in the traditional ancient Roman form of entertainment - gladiator fights.

Variety of species
According to botanists, there are 270,000 species of flowers on Earth today. Approximately 35 thousand of them are different types roses. And roses are one of the most popular and bought flowers.

The most ancient flower

The oldest flower, the "mother of all flowers", was discovered by archaeologists in 2002 on the territory of modern China. Its age is over 125,000,000 years.

Flowers that form gases


Dictamnus or ash tree is probably familiar to every gardener. He is loved for his unusually beautiful pale pink or white flowers. But few people know that this plant emits a combustible gas without color and odor. Therefore, if you bring fire to it, it will flare up in a second. As a result, this flower should be grown with extreme caution.

Resurrection Lotus

AT Ancient Egypt lotus was considered a sacred flower, a symbol of resurrection. He was worshiped and used in funeral rites. This is largely due to the ability of the lotus to survive during many years of drought and begin to bloom only the soil becomes wet again.

sunflowers

Charming and bright sunflowers fully justify their name. They have an amazing ability to turn the inflorescence following the movement of the sun. A bouquet of these wonderful flowers is a proven way to add color to gray everyday life.

A plant that blooms once in its life

Agave or agave can live for several decades and never bloom. And only at the very end, before dying, the plant releases one single flower.

moonflower

As you know, plants need sunlight to bloom. The uniqueness of the native of the American tropics, the kaloniktion or the moon flower, is that in order for its flowers to bloom, the light of the moon is needed, not the sun - this plant blooms exclusively in the dark. The appearance of beautiful white flowers with the onset of night is a magical and bewitching sight. But as soon as sunrise comes, the flowers wither.

All people love flowers, and this is not surprising, because they are beautiful and smell good, and besides, they can be used to decorate the interior of your own home. Any flower shop boasts a wide variety of types of flowers, but none of them you will find the flowers that we will tell you about next. The most beautiful and unusual flowers from different parts of the world are waiting for you next. And let even the white roses blush with shame.

Tricyrtis or toad lily

This flower grows in Japan and looks more like a starfish than a plant.

Grouse (Fritillaria)

Fritillaria is Latin for dice box. This plant is also known as the chess flower.

Cypripedia

These flowers are also known as ladies' slippers because of the yellow bulging petal.

Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii)

AT this moment are on the verge of extinction, growing in US state Florida, also in Cuba and the Bahamas

Strongylodon largecarpus

These turquoise plants are related to peas and beans and are native to the Philippines.

Passion flower meat-red

There are many types of flowers belonging to this family that can be found throughout the Americas and Asia. Such flowers can be seen during the flowering of passion fruit and are very fond of hummingbirds.

Datura

Despite all his beauty, these are very highly toxic flowers that can easily lead a person into a serious state of delirium, up to death. Once these flowers were widely used as a poison in Europe and Asia.

Primrose

One of the most stylish colors

Platycodon grandiflora

Also known as flower balloon". Native to East Asia and sometimes used as an ingredient in salads.

Ginger hive (Zingiber spectabile)

Fantastic flowers resembling a beehive can reach up to 4.5 m in height.

Orchid "flying duck"

Guess why this flower got such a name

Chinese lantern (Abutilon × hybridum)

There are many beautiful colors in this family, but this one is the most striking.

Amorphophallus titanic

This beautiful flower, also known as not very beautiful name- "corpse flower", because during flowering it exudes the smell of rotting meat to attract carrion-eating animals and insects for pollination

Psychotria

In fact, these red "lips" are not a flower, they only protect the flower that is inside them. Grows in Central and South America

Egret Orchid (Pecteilis radiata)

This orchid, native to Central and East Asia, resembles a fluffy white bird.

Tacca Chantrier or "black bat"

A flower that closely resembles a large black bat can be found in South-East Asia. Thanks to its "gothic" color scheme, this flower tends to stay away from the color of the sun

Holy Spirit Orchid (Peristeria elata)

Not to be confused with the ghost orchid, this flower grows in Central America and is also called the dove orchid (also try to guess why)

Flowers "sporting"

Botanists call this phenomenon "sporting", which means the spontaneous mutation of one part of the plant.

Trichozant serpentine

This lacy flower with serpentine fruits is native to South Asia but can be found in warmer regions around the world. Its fruits and herbs are edible

Orchid "naked man" (Italian orchid)

You can immediately see the reason for this. unusual name flower

Hoya (Wax ivy)

Little flowers look like candy

Orchid "pink moth" (Phalaenopsis)

Bright orchid looking like a bird in flight

Monkey orchid (Dracula simia)

An orchid whose flower is very reminiscent of a sad monkey :(

Japanese Camellia (Camellia Japonica)

This flower may seem to you a completely ordinary shape and color, but all its unusualness lies in the spiral flowering of the petals and the fact that it grows at an altitude of more than 300 meters and blooms only in cold weather.

Epiphyllum

These plants bloom very rarely, and only at night. They are extremely sensitive.

Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)

After the snapdragon has faded, seed pods remain, which are very similar to small skulls.

May 22 - International Day for Biological Diversity. Today is the time to remember how amazing and beautiful the planet we live on. In honor of this day, we have prepared for you a selection of 9 of the most amazing and rare flowers.

Today, a person, immersed in a whirlpool of personal problems and urgent matters, rarely thinks about the nature that surrounds him. But there are so many interesting things going on around us! One world of flora is able to surprise endlessly. Our planet has many of the most different colors- endangered species that remain almost single specimens, dangerous flowers that can, at best, scare away the observer bad smell and, of course, incredible beautiful flowers, which can be admired indefinitely.

Titanic amorphophallus (Amorphophallus titanum)

The second name of this plant is a corpse flower. Despite its rather funny appearance, the flower has a number of features that gave rise to such a name. Amorphophallus blooms less often than you most likely can imagine - only once every 20-40 years, while it blooms for only a few days. And he rewards all the witnesses of this action in a special way too - a very sharp and poisonous smell of rotten meat. By the way, the height of the tallest flower, which recently blossomed in the Swiss Botanical Garden, reached 2.27 meters.

Red camellia (Middlemist camellia)

Red camellia is one of the rarest plants on our planet, because today the flower exists in only a few copies, one of which is in New Zealand, and the second in England. By the way, the plant came to the London greenhouse together from China, where, over time, the red camellia practically disappeared.

Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)

Chocolate kosmeya is one of the most unique plants in the United States and Latin America, which was considered long gone from the wild. The fact is that this type of cosmea fully justifies its name. The flower exudes an amazing aroma of chocolate and vanilla, so it is not surprising that the plant was often plucked. Fortunately, scientists paid attention to this problem in time, and today it is quite possible to purchase flower seeds. True, they are not cheap.

Gibraltar Smolevka (Silene tomentosa)

The Gibraltar Smolevka is the rarest member of its family. Scientists for a long time considered the flower to be extinct, until in 1994 a climber discovered specimens of the plant on a mountainside. Today, plant seeds are stored in a special jar, and admire rare flower available at the Gibraltar and London Botanic Gardens.

Kokio (Kokai cookei)

Another rare plant that almost disappeared from the territory of our planet. For the first time, Kokio was found in the middle of the 19th century in the amount of several copies. They tried to plant the tree, but it turned out that the plant was extremely reluctant to take root, and all specimens died. And only in 1970 they found another surviving tree, which soon burned down. However, one branch was saved and subsequently grafted onto several trees. Now you can admire hundreds of bright red flowers on the branches of a miraculously surviving plant in Hawaii, where all these trees still grow.

Ghost Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum)

This type of orchid was called a ghost for a reason. For more than 20 years, it was believed that the plant died out, but not so long ago, scientists managed to find several specimens. By itself, the ghost orchid is quite defenseless. For the life of a flower, there is not enough water and sunlight, this orchid needs special kind fungus, which feeds the roots of the plant. The elusive orchids were saved thanks to their unique trait - the ability to grow underground for a long time.

Parrot beak (Lotus berthelotii)

The original plant, which got its name from appearance. Unfortunately, the flower has disappeared from the wild. Scientists have suggested that the plant, which once grew on the Canary Islands, was pollinated by extinct nectaries. Scientists have repeatedly tried to return the plant to wildlife, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Fortunately, gardeners grow a flower at home, and if you wish and with a certain amount of luck, you may well be able to purchase a curiosity for yourself.

Kadupul (Epiphyllum Oxypetalum)

Kadupul is not the rarest flower, but this plant that grows in Sri Lanka has several unique features of its own. The fact is that Kadupul blooms very rarely and always at midnight. Moreover, after flowering, Kadupul immediately dies. One legend says that during the flowering of Kadupul, mythical creatures descend to Earth and present amazing flower a gift to the Buddha.

Jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

Another unique flower whose survival is in danger today. Although the jade vine belongs to the legume family, it is similar in structure to the most common bean, the plant is distinguished by many flowers that hang from the plant in clusters. By the way, the length of such clusters can reach three meters. Pollinate the vine the bats who are not averse to feasting on the nectar of a flower. Unfortunately, due to systematic deforestation and a decrease in the bat population, the future of the plant is in a highly uncertain state.

Plants appear to us as something green and boring. But it's nothing but pure water prejudice - the plants from this list are ready to compete in diversity and uniqueness with the animal world, they just need to be given a chance.

15. Rainbow Trees


Imagine walking through a forest of 60-meter trees in all the colors of the rainbow. Do you think this is possible only in a fairy tale movie? But no - Eucalyptus deglupta, or rainbow eucalyptus actually exists and is found in forests in the Philippines. These trees grow so fast that their bark peels off in strips, revealing a bright green layer that changes color to yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown as it ages.

14. Snapdragon seed pods


Snapdragon has been widely used as a model by botanists in many genetic studies. For example, Gregor Mendel and Charles Darwin used snapdragons to study heredity. Distinctive feature plants are his seed pods, each like a screaming skull.

13. Jaboticaba


Jaboticaba is fruit tree with unique fruit formation. Unlike most trees, whose fruits grow on branches, Jaboticaba forms its black fruits right on the trunk. It looks like they ooze from the bark. Although the Jaboticaba fruit is popular in Brazil, due to its short shelf life, it rarely makes it to other places. The fruit can be consumed fresh, as well as in the form of jam, wine or liquor.

11. Amorphophallus titanic

This flower is the tallest in the world - its height can reach three meters. The yellow spadix in the center contains small white flowers. As soon as they are ready to spread the pollen, the cob begins to generate heat, which helps to spread a fetid odor that resembles the smell of a decaying corpse. As in the case of the corpse lily, the smell attracts flies, which are engaged in pollination.

10. Elephant yam


Amorphophallus pionolifolia, or elephant yam, is a close relative of Amorphophallus titanic. Formerly the only way to distinguish different kinds in this group was to smell them and find out what kind of stink they exude. The tubers, which gave the plant the name "yams", are the third most popular carbohydrate source in Indonesia after rice and corn. And the word "Amorphophallus" in the name indicates the shape of the flower - literally it translates as "shapeless penis."

9. Voronets thick-legged


Voronet thick-legged also bears the cheerful name "doll eyes". It is quite obvious that the creepy "eyes" are poisonous. Just a handful of these berries can cause instant death. Of course, only a desperate brave man can dare to eat the berries that are looking at him ...

8. Bitter cucumber

Momordica charantia, or bitter cucumber, is a herbaceous vine that grows all over the world. Its fruits, empty inside, have a warty surface. They are usually eaten while they are still green because the yellowing fruit becomes more and more bitter as it ripens. However, when the fully ripe fruit opens, a sweet, bright red center can be found inside.

7. Naked man


Orchis italica, also called the Naked Man orchid, can be found almost everywhere in the Mediterranean region. They are very popular among orchid lovers because ... well, at least because the petals look like naked men, which is incomprehensible here. The plant has about 40 varieties, so you can choose a naked man in almost any color and size.

6. Predatory pitchers

Animals eat plants. This is the natural order of things. However, some plants go against the system and fight back. The pitchers trap insects, spiders, and even small mammals and reptiles, and then drown them. Their modified leaves hold a liquid that contains digestive enzymes and chemicals. As soon as the victim enters the jug, he slides down the waxed slippery walls, which do not allow him to get out. After unsuccessful attempts to get out, the victim is immersed in the liquid, drowning, and the plant digests it to provide itself with nutrients that are not found in the soil.

5. Flowering stones


Of course, you know perfectly well that flowering stones do not exist in nature. But it is precisely them that the amazing plants of the genus Lithops resemble. They can be found in the rocky and sandy deserts of South Africa. Plants have adapted to superficially resemble the rocks around them. This shape allows them to survive in regions with low rainfall, as the small surface area inhibits evaporation. Lithops are popular houseplants and are often sold specifically as "living stones".

4. African Gidnora

3 Albino Sequoia

Ask your child to draw a tree and you will get a brown trunk and green leaves. Everyone knows that trees are green. Everything except the albino sequoia. These trees are unable to produce chlorophyll, and without chlorophyll they cannot absorb sunlight and produce their own nutrients. For other trees, this would be a death sentence, but sequoias have the ability to share roots among themselves. When an albino redwood sprouts, it needs to attach itself to the root system of another tree in order to extract food.

2. Red tumbleweed

Bassia broom grows in Eurasia, but somehow made it to the United States, where it received the nickname "Mexican fire weed" or more prosaic "burning bush". Tumbleweeds usually turn yellow or brown when they die, but bassia takes on a bright red hue. Entire fields of bassia can be found in Japan, where their black seeds are called "caviar of the earth."

1. Kiss plant


Psychotria sublime is known by the unflattering name of "whore sponge". One glance at the flower is enough to understand where this name comes from. The plant is found in the jungles of Central America, but despite its enticing appearance, it is gradually becoming endangered due to habitat loss. These lips would look great on Batman's rival, Poison Ivy. Especially when you consider that the flower produces a hallucinogenic substance. Oddly enough, the "sponges" themselves are not the flower of the plant. The flower protrudes from the "mouth", all covered with yellow viscous mucus. As they say, beauty is on the surface...