Plant Facts and Photos

Don't be fooled into thinking that plants are boring organisms. They are impressively complex and can perform some outstanding feats!

Pitcher plant

Size

The mighty titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) has the largest flowers in the world with a circumference of over three metres. They smell like rotting meat in order to attract pollinating insects which has earned them the name "corpse flower".

Other monster plants include the sequoia, which is the largest tree in the world, the Mexican cardon cactus which can grow over 19 metres high and the giant Amazon waterlily which has a leaf which measures 1.8 metres across. The lily's leaves are armoured underneath with spines to protect them against hungry fish and kept afloat by gas-filled struts.

Massive sequoia trees

Massive sequoia trees

Extremes

The snowbell of the the Alps actually flowers under the snow. The plant forms its flowerbuds before the winter sets in and then remains dormant until the snow starts to melt above them eventually revealing their beautiful vivid blue petals.

Predation

The deadly venus flytrap uses tiny hairs on its surface to act as triggers. If an unwary insect touches one of the hairs the trap closes and acids within the plant dissolve the victim’s body.

Similar to the flytrap. the pitcher plant is also carnivorous. It creates a substance within its leaves that coats the inside of its flowers, mixing with water stored in the 'pitcher'. This scented water attracts insects and, on occasion, small animals. When they come to drink, they fall into the pitcher, unable to escape. The plant then digests and draws nutrients from the captured prey.

Acacia Trees

Defence

The oleander, is considered by many to be the most poisonous plant in the world. An oleander's toxins are so strong, that it can poison a person who simply eats the honey made by bees that have digested oleander nectar!

Acacia trees also have a formidable defence. They are covered in spiny thorns which require those that want to eat them to develop adaptations of their own; giraffes' long necks allow them to get to the less thorny crown and their thick saliva and tough tongue protect them from being pricked.

Not all interesting plants are from far-away lands. The bramble can grow by as much as 7.6cm in a single day! The aggressive woodland plant's backward facing spines give it the grip it needs to climb over anything that gets in its way.