Welwitschia mirabilis:World's Most Resistant Plant

It's not pretty to look at, but Namibia's plant Welwitschia Mirabiliscan truly claim to be one of a kind. There really is nothing like it.Welwitschia plant consists of only two leaves and a sturdy stem withroots. That's all! Two leaves continue to grow until they resemble theshaggy mane of some sci-fi alien. The stem thickens, rather than gainsin height, and can grow to be almost 2 meters high and 8 meters wide.Their estimated lifespan is 400 to 1500 years. It can survive up tofive years with no rain. The plant is said to be very tasty either rawor baked in hot ashes, and this is how it got its other name, Onyanga,which means onion of the desert.

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Dionaea muscipula: the Venus Fly Trap

TheVenus Fly Trap is the most famous of all carnivorous plants due to theactive and efficient nature of its unique traps. It may be famous, butit's also threatened. The plant's two hinged leaves are covered inultra sensitive fine hairs that detect the presence of everything fromants to arachnids. Trigger the hairs and snap! The trap will shut inless than a second.(Link | Photo)

Rafflesia arnoldii: World's Largest Flower

Thereis one exotic and rare plant you wouldn't likely want to grow anywherenear your landscape no matter how famous it would make you for doingso. That would be growing the largest flower in the world. This exotic,very rare, speckled, though not particularly pretty, rust coloredflower is called Rafflesia Arnoldii.

RafflesiaArnoldii, recently assigned to the Euphorbiaceae family, is the biggestindividually produced flower in the world. It gets to be 3 feet acrossand weighing a whopping 15- 24 pounds. That's pretty darn big but stillyou would not like this flower in your perennial bed. Why is that? Ifyou could mimic a rainforest type environment for this plant, it givesoff a most offensive odor when in bloom. This scent is somewhat likerotting meat. This is why it is often called the Corpse Plant by somenatives of Indonesia where it originates.

Its blossoms onlylast three days to a week. But in those few days it needs a miracle ortwo just for survival. This hideous smell it produces attractspollinating insects to it to help perpetuate the species. But even whenthis happens only 10-20 percent of the tiny seedlings make it. With anyluck in nine months it blooms.(Link | Photo)

Desmodium gyrans: the Dancing Plant

Darwincalled the plant Hedysarum; modern botanists call it either DesmodiumGyrans, or more correctly these days, Codariocalyx Motorius. Its commonname is Dancing Grass or Telegraph Plant or Semaphore Plant -- afterthe leaf movements, which resemble semaphore signals. For all of itsuses this plant is easy to grow, dancing happily on a sunny windowsilland watered when dry. Some say it dances best to the "Greatful Dead!"

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Euphorbia obesa: the Baseball Plant

Euphorbia Obesa, also known as the Baseball Plant, is endemic to theGreat Karoo region of South Africa. Unsustainable harvesting by plantcollectors who value Euphorbia obesa for its interesting and curiousappearance has severely impacted wild populations. Consequently,national and international legislation have been enacted to protectremaining populations. While Euphorbia obesa remains endangered in itsnative habitat, it has become very common in cultivation. By growinglarge numbers of Euphorbia obesa, nurseries and botanical gardens havebeen working to ensure that specimens being traded and sold among plantcollectors are not obtained from the wild.(Link)

Amorphophallus titanum: the Corpse Flower

Aflower taller than a man, stinking strongly of putrefying roadkill andcolored deep burgundy to mimic rotting flesh, sounds like somethingfrom a low-budget science fiction movie. But Indonesia's titan arum—or"corpse flower," as known by locals—is a real, if rare, phenomenon,pollinated in the wild by carrion-seeking insects. This Indonesianplant, called titan arum or amorphophallus titanium, has the world'sbiggest inflorescence. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent ofthe smell of a decomposing mammal, the Titan Arum is also known as acarrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant".(Link 1 | Link 2)

Baobab: the Bottle Tree

Baobabis the common name of a genus (Adansonia) containing eight species oftrees, native to Madagascar, mainland Africa and Australia. Also knownas the Bottle Tree, not only do they look like bottles, but the treestypically store around 300 liters of water! No wonder why they oftenlive over 500 years!(Link)

Dracaena cinnabari: the Dragon Blood Tree

DracaenaCinnabari is a Dragon Tree native to the Socotra archipelago. It isalso referred to as the Dragon Blood Tree and Socotra Dragon Tree. Itis one of the most striking of Socotra's plants, a strange-looking,umbrella-shaped tree. It was first formally described by Isaac BayleyBalfour in 1882. A miniature Icon of this tree is in Windows asNetwork-Icon. Its red sap was the dragon's blood of the ancients,sought after as a medicine and a dye.(Link 1 | Link 2)

Mimosa púdica: the Shy Plant

MimosaPudica (pudica = shy), or the Sensitive Plant, has a curiosity value:the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken,re-opening within minutes. The species is native to South America andCentral America, but is now a pantropical weed. Who would know thatplants have feelings too?

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Selaginella lepidophylla: the Resurrection Plant

Also known as Rose of Jericho, the Selaginella Lepidophylla is aspecies of desert plant noted for its ability to survive almostcomplete desiccation; during dry weather in its native habitat, itsstems curl into a tight ball and uncurl when exposed to moisture. It isnative to the Chihuahuan Desert. (Link | Photo)

Reader Contributions to "10 of the World's Strangest Plant Species"

		Cannabis by Alar on 9/4/2009 Hemp (from Old English hænep, see cannabis (etymology)) is the common name for plants of the entire (...) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis

		wollimi pine ; one of the oldest surving plants in th world by patrick mitchell on 9/3/2009 this wollimi pine fossils are found as fare back as 90 million years old. Also the surving plants ar(...) Source: http://www.wollemipine.com/fast_facts.php

		The Sandbox Tree and its Exploding Fruit by Ariel on 9/2/2009 Found in the Amazon rain forest, the 100 foot tall Sandbox Tree is, quite simply, a tree from hell. (...) Source: http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1437005

		Sundew Plant by PartlySmith on 9/2/2009 Although not as well-known as the Flytrap, this other carnivorous plant deserves mention just becaus(...)

		Sanjeevani plant (Selaginella bryopteris): The plant that infuses life by swara on 9/2/2009 This plant dries and curls up its leaves in the summer (notice some brownish white leaves in the cen(...) Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harshadsharma/40948462/,

		Bristlecone Pine by Scott Thompson on 9/2/2009 Bristlecone Pines are the oldest single living organisms on planet earth. Prometheus, the oldest spe(...) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristlecone_pine

		"Wag 'n bietjie' or "wait a while" Tree by Romy Vorster on 9/2/2009 The Ziziphus mucronata (Buffalo thorn) is usually a shrub or small to medium sized tree, it has simp(...) Source: http://www.safari-guide.co.uk/trees_ziziphus_mucronata.php