Short compendium of bizarre plants

Trevor Bekolay, Volunteer staff

These aren’t your grandmother’s plants. No, these are the kinds of plants that would go on “Plant Maury,” get sent to boot camp, and still be all badass afterwards. Exercise caution when confronted by these freaks of evolution.

Rat-eating pitcher plant — Nepenthes tenax

Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that trap their prey in deep cavities filled with digestive liquid. Most of these plants dine on insects; however, a recently discovered pitcher plant in Cape York, Australia, is large enough that it has acquired a taste for small rats.

Self-destructing palm tree — Tahina spectabilis

Botanists recently discovered a new species of palm tree on the island of Madagascar. They’re huge — 20 metres high with leaves five metres long. At the end of its life, a Christmas tree-like shoot grows from the top of the tree. The branches sprout hundreds of tiny flowers, which are pollinated and turn into fruit. Unfortunately, the flowering process takes so much energy from the tree that it eventually collapses and dies.

Mistletoe — Phoradendron serotinum

Most are aware of the role mistletoe plays during the holiday season, but did you know that mistletoe is a parasite? Well, a hemi-parasite: it obtains nourishment from its host but also photosynthesizes. Mistletoe can grow on a wide range of host trees; normally the tree experiences some reduced growth, but heavy mistletoe infestation can result in death.

Corpse Flower — Amorphophallus titanium

Many flowers attract bees for the purpose of pollination. The corpse flower attracts a different type of insect for pollination ­— those that are attracted to the smell of a rotting whale or sea creature. This noxious beast is massive, standing two metres tall and weighing up to 23 kilograms. At the centre of its massive flower is a huge conical structure that is described best by the plant’s genus name, which is Latin for “shapeless penis.”

Sexy orchids — Chiloglottis reflexa

These Australian orchids have evolved to attract male thynnine wasps by mimicking the appearance, feel, and smell of the female wasp. Since the orchids produce the same hormone as the female wasps, male wasps attempt to mate with the orchid, inadvertently pollinating it. One interesting side effect of this is that sometimes too many male wasps show up to the party. They get confused, one thing leads to another, and in the end they have sex with each other.