From the ugly to the strange - weird plant to make you wonder

IN THIS period of clock changes, darker nights and bonfires my thoughts have turned to the stranger, more mysterious members of the plant world.

As part of our Kid’s Halloween trail we loved showing off our Bat Plants, which flowered at exactly the right time and, of course we always have the carnivorous plants that are by far and away the most interesting plants in the Palm House if you happen to be between the ages of 7 and 11. Out there in the big, wide world, though, there are plenty of monsters and oddities that truly defy imagination. The weird and wonderful, the ugly and strange are everywhere and they deserve a moment of fame. I thought it was time to celebrate them so here’s my top five for you to marvel and grimace over.

1. A plant that only ever grows two leaves but can survive 1,500 years.

Welwitschia mirabilis is a unique plant found only in the desert of Namibia. The estimated lifespan of this strange looking plant is between 500 and 1,500 years and it survives some super extreme conditions, coping for up to five years without water. Welwitchsia is not pretty and when mature looks very alien like. Although there are both male and female plants the plant is basically little more than two leaves on a sturdy stem. These two leaves simply continue to grow over time eventually becoming an astonishing eight metres wide. Despite its bizarre appearance it is apparently tasty to eat, so its local name is Onyanga, which means onion of the desert.

2. A plant that smells of rotting flesh. Taller than the average human, smelling like a corpse, hence its common name – the corpse flower, and flowering only rarely the Titan arum, officially Amorphophallus titanium, is now surprisingly familiar thanks to the patience and horticultural skill of Britain’s botanical gardens. Our very own local botanical specialists, Paignton Zoo, are consistently successful with this awesome plant so you have probably seen a picture of this one in this newspaper if not actually seen it in the flesh. Even better if you have had the good fortune to smell it, though you may not have thought so at the time, as it really does small awful.

It is officially the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, which simply means that it is the largest flower on a stem, reaching heights of around eight metres when it chooses to bloom. Lasting only for a very short period, the flower of this Indonesian native is designed to attract carrion eating insects with its putrid smell and colour, to encourage pollination. The scarcity of its flowering and environmental pressures mean that it is now endangered in its native homelands so the work gardens like Kew and Paignton are doing by propagating it (with a paintbrush not a captive blue-

Tacca chantrieri bottle by the way) is crucial.

3. A plant that looks like a cricket ball. Actually Euphorbia obesa, a native of South Africa, is commonly referred to as the Baseball Plant but I have made a cultural adjustment just for you readers. To all intents and purposes it looks very like a round cactus about 20cm in diameter without the spines, but many cactus-like plants are actually from the Euphorbia family and are easily mistaken. The key marker of a euphorbia plant is the toxic milky white sap that oozes out of any wounds, which can cause skin problems for anyone sensitive. Wild populations are severely endangered due to overzealous plant collectors, fascinated by the unusual appearance, collecting wild specimens.

4. No roots and grey foliage.

Possibly one of my favourites, despite the fact that it barely resembles a plant at all, Tillandsia usneoides is better known as Spanish moss. If, like me, you are obsessed with films and literature about the deep south of the United States, you may well know this plant. It is found draping over the branches of southern live oaks and cypresses of South Virginia, Louisiana and Florida although it also grows in other sub-tropical and tropical forests. It is an epiphyte, draping over branches like skeins of wool, piggybacking on growing trees to help it get closer to the canopy. It is superbly adapted to its environment and stunningly evocative of the Deep South, with its Cajun culture, swamps and dark secrets.

5. A plant or a stone? How to avoid being eaten.

Members of the lithops family , mainly found in South Africa, are usually called ‘living stones’ as this is exactly what they resemble: a stone or pebble. It is a highly successful way of avoiding being nibbled by animals in those harsh environments. Tiny and strange looking lithops have just two chunky pebble like leaves, and sit close to the ground avoiding unnecessary attention. They even mimic pebble colours: grey, white and purple often with a mottled appearance. Anything except green, in fact. When I was younger my sister and I used to grow lithops (or at least not kill them) but I have to admit that we used to call them ‘bottom plants rather than pebble plants. Find a picture and you will see why.

Of course this is hardly a definitive list. There are many more amazing plants out there that deserve to be better known. Even in our Palm House there are fascinating oddities that make people stop in their tracks. The sensitive plant, for example, or Mimosa pudica, is always a big hit as it defies plant behaviour by moving when touched. In the wild this helps it survive potential attack by leaf eating insects. There is something rather charming about stroking it and watching it shiver and close.

Our collection of carnivorous plants too, which includes not only Venus Fly Traps but pitcher plants that drown insects and sundews that trap them on their sticky exudations, are fascinating and change people’s perceptions about the plant world, as well as inspiring a fair amount of horror and science fiction films. And then, of course, there is the weird and wonderful Bat Plant, Tacca chantrieri, all whiskers and tentacles. The perfect plant for these darker, moodier winter days even if its natural environment is the tropical warm forest of Yunnan in China.

Happy gardening.