Unusual, Cool and Unique Plants With Weird Flowers (Including Pictures)

Many types of flowering plants have their own beauty, but some plants are so unusual and unique that they grab attention. Examples of cool plants that would surprise you include black bat flowers, various orchids, bleeding hearts, and hot lips. Growing some of these interesting plants will create a great talking piece in your garden or home.

It’s not just wacky flowers that you can grow in your garden. There are also unusual types of vegetables and fruits that have strange colors and shapes. For example, there are purple cauliflowers, white strawberries, and tiny watermelon-like fruits.

You may also see pictures of some very weird plants that grow in tropical countries. Some of these plants don’t just have an unusual shape, but they also give off a terrible stench.

In this article, you will find out about some of the weirdest and interesting plants and flowers you will come across. With the descriptions of the unusual plants, you will see pictures of some plants that you never knew existed.

Cool and Unique Plants You Never Knew Existed (With Pictures)

Let’s look in more detail at some of the most interesting plants to grow in your garden. You can choose for yourself which of these have the coolest and most unique flowers.

Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding Heart flowers (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) are some of the prettiest and neat flowers you will come across. Their name aptly describes the look of the unusual flowers as each is in the shape of a fuchsia-pink or red colored heart with a white drop underneath it.

One of the reasons these beautiful flowers are so interesting is due to the fact there are a number of them on each stem. There can be up to 20 striking flowers drooping off the stem like heart-shaped pendants.

It may seem that this interesting plant comes from the tropics but it actually prefers cooler climates. Some beautiful cultivars have golden, white, or red and white heart flowers.

Passion Flower (Passiflora)

If you are looking for a crazy and funky type of flower, then passion flowers are a great choice. Commonly called passiflora, these colorful, frilly-looking flowers grow on trailing vines or shrubs and prefer warmer climates.

From the family Passifloraceae, passion flowers have multi-layers of different colored petals. They usually have large, wide petals in the shape of a star. On top of these are thinner hair-like petals that give it a spiky appearance. Then in the center are stamens in the shape of a hammer giving them an ornamental look.

These showy unusual flowers are in general lilac or light purple color. Some exotic cultivars have multicolored ring patterns in reds, purples, whites, and yellows.

Bird of Paradise Flowers

Another type of cool plant is the Bird of Paradise (genus Strelitzia) because it looks just like an exotic bird. The bushy perennial plant has amazingly pretty flowers with a beak-like spathe and vividly colored blooms resembling a crane’s head.

Plants in the Strelitzia genus grow in clumps and can reach up to between 5 and 6 ft. (150 – 180 cm) tall. This highly-prized weird plant produces many exotic flowers to create a stunning floral display. These funky flowers also look great as part of a cut flower arrangement.

When the interesting plants aren’t adorned with striking unique flowers, the tall lush green foliage provides plenty of color and decoration for your garden.

Black Bat Flower

The Black Bat Flower (Tacca chantrieri) is one of the most unusual flowers you will come across because the blossoms are black. Black color in nature is quite rare and these odd-looking rare flowers are very striking.

It is not just the black petals that make this one of the weirdest flowers you will see. The black flowers have large bat-shaped petals and can be up to 12” (30 cm) across. Adding to the strange look of this flower are the drooping whiskers that can measure 28” (71 cm) long.

These unusual black flowers grow in tropical counties and the plant is native to Southeast Asia.

Unusual Orchid Plants

Orchids are some of the most special flowering plants in the world. Species of plants in the family Orchidaceae are also some of the most numerous from all types of flowering plants on the planet.

With so many types of orchids that come in a wide range of colors, there are bound to be some crazy and odd flowers to choose from.

Here are a few of the most interesting types of orchid flowers that you can grow at home:

Duck orchid

The appropriately named Duck orchid (Caleana major) has unusual petals that look like a duck’s head and wings. The strange orchid flowers hang from the stem and they resemble a duck in flight. Each reddish-brown flower is quite small, being only around 1” (2.5 cm) long.

Naked Man orchid

One of the most unusual orchids is the Orchis italica which is commonly called the Naked Man orchid. Looking at pictures of this orchid, it is easy to see where it gets its name from. Apart from its ‘manly’ shape, this orchid is unusual because the small pink flowers grow in dense clusters on top of a long straight stem.

Monkey orchid

Another weird-looking orchid flower is the Monkey orchid (Dracula simia). When looking at pictures of this type of orchid you could be mistaken in thinking that you are looking at a monkey’s face. The shape of the orchid petals and lip look just like the face of a monkey.

Dove orchid

One of the most beautiful and unusually-shaped orchids is the Dove orchid (genus Peristeria). This orchid’s flowers are cup-shaped and the center looks like a dove with spread-out wings. Some of the prettiest cultivars are pure white and the ‘dove’ has delicate purple markings.

Globe Thistles

Globe thistles (Echinops sphaerocephalus) are on this list of unusual and cool plants because they grow very tall and have a large globular head.

The stems of these cool plants grow to between 20” and 40” (50 – 100 cm) tall. On top of these grow clusters of tiny blue/purple or white flowers in a spherical shape. Each ball-like flower usually measures 2.3” (6 cm) in diameter.

Purple Triple Datura

The interesting feature of the Purple Triple Datura (Datura metel) is the showy trumpet-shaped flower in a deep purple, sometimes almost black color. The unusual petals of these striking plants have 3 layers to give them a spectacular look. The outside of the datura flowers is usually a dark to black color and this contrasts with the white or pale lilac interior.

Some of the cool-looking datura cultivars look as if a purple tissue has been stuffed in the funnel part of the flowers.

One of the crazy features of this plant is the fact that all parts of the plant are highly toxic. Even ingesting tiny amounts of the plant can cause nausea, hallucinations, and even put a person in a coma.

Kissing Lips

One of the funniest plants that you could grow in your garden is the Palicourea elata. Looking at pictures of this flower, you can see why it’s also called ‘kissing lips’ or ‘hot lips.’

The large red pouting lips on this plant are not a ridiculous flower but are actually a type of leaf called a bract. These weird lip-shaped leaves grow on a type of shrub in rain forests. The ridiculously looking bracts then break open as star-shaped flowers appear from the middle of the kissing lips.

Lamb’s Ears

If you are looking for an unusual fuzzy type of plant, then Lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina) are a good choice. This perennial herbal plant has thick gray or silvery leaves with a fur-like covering. These leaves also look like a furry tongue and are some of the most interesting of any garden plant.

Lamb’s-ear plants are low-maintenance plants that are great for planting along borders. The flowering stems can grow to between 6” and 24” (15 – 60 cm) tall and they bloom in spring and summer. Apart from the plant’s funny leaves, the flowers are also unusual because they have a fuzzy appearance.

Some popular cultivars for your garden include ‘Big Ears,’ Silky Fleece’ or ‘Silver Carpet.’ For a particularly stunning variety of Lamb’s Ears, choose the variegated ‘Striped Phantom’ cultivar.

Venus Flytrap

Plants that are carnivorous and eat insects are unique and weird in the plant kingdom. Venus Flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) grow in subtropical climates and are one of the few plants that catch their prey.

For kids, a Venus flytrap is one of the best plants ever. They are fascinated by the plant as the trap snaps shut when a spider or other insect crawls into it. The trigger mechanism seems to be connected to fine sensitive hairs within the trap.

Interestingly, the plant ‘knows’ to identify if the object is an insect or not. If it’s an insect, the trap will stay shut until enzymes break down the insect for the plant to feed on it. This must be one of the most unusual and unique types of plants you can have in your home.

Dracunculus vulgaris (Black Arum)

Common names for the Dracunculus vulgaris include ‘black dragon,’ ‘snake lily,’ and ‘dragon lily.’

There are a few reasons why this is considered a weird and unusual plant. For example, one of common names for this unique plant is also ‘stink lily’ which refers to the stench of rotten meat the plant emits. This stench attracts flies to the cone-shaped flowers so the plant gets to be pollinated.

Apart from an awful pong from the plant, the unusual flower looks more like a thick stem. This is surrounded by a bract that can be in the shape of a funnel. Some types of this plant have a large dark blackish-purple bract and long black stem-like flower protruding from it.

You can grow this interesting-looking plant in warm climates for ornamental purposes. Another crazy feature is that the plant is poisonous, so handle with care.

Unique Plants that Grow in the Wild

Not all weird and wonderful plants are possible to grow as ornamental plants in your garden. Some of the strangest looking plants in the world are quite rare, extremely large, or only grow in tropical rain forests.

Titan Arum (Corpse Flower)

The Titan arum flower is famous for the horrendous stink like dead, rotting flesh it gives off. It is no wonder why this huge weird plant is also called the ‘corpse flower.’ The massive single flower can sprout a flowering stem (inflorescence) of up to 10 ft. (3 m) tall.

Rafflesia

Flowers in the genus Rafflesia are also huge and reek of decaying rotten meat. Apart from its size and offensive smell, this famous plant is unique in that it has no roots, stems, or leaves. This parasitic rare flower has large red petals with white polka dots and can grow up to 3 ft. (1 m) in diameter. Even small types of these plants can measure 1 ft. (30 cm).

Tropical Pitcher Plants

Tropical pitcher plants are another type of weird plant that catches its prey and then consumes it. The ‘pitcher’ is a long tube-like pouch that attracts all sorts of insects and small reptiles. They slide down to the bottom and then drown in nectar where the plant digests them.

Interesting and Weird Plants

Cucamelons

Cucamelons (Melothria scabra) are a strange type of fruit that look like a cross between a grape and watermelon but taste like a cucumber. Other names for this wacky fruit include ‘Mexican sour gherkin,’ ‘Mouse melon,’ and ‘Mexican sour cucumber.’

These small green fruits grow on plants native to Central America and Mexico. Before the interesting fruits appear, small yellow flowers bloom on the plant. Ripe cucamelons are about the size of a grape. They have a fresh taste like cucumbers but with a slight sourness to it.

You can eat cucamelons straight off the vine or you can chop them up and use them in fresh green salads. A common way to prepare these delicious fruits is to pickle them to create pickled Mexican sour gherkins.

You can learn how to easily grow cucamelons in this article.

Pineberries

Another of the strange-looking fruits that you can grow in your garden are pineberries (F. virginiana x chiloensis). These small berry-type fruits look like white strawberries with red seeds and taste like pineapple.

Although these white strawberries look like they’re the result of genetic modification, they are actually a hybrid of strawberries from Chile and Virginia. The odd-looking strawberries are smaller than a standard strawberry and may only measure between 0.6” and 0.9” (1.5 – 2.3 cm).

This is a relatively new strawberry cultivar and it is not common to find them for sale in supermarkets, but you can grow them in your garden.

Cool Types of Cauliflowers

Different colored cauliflowers are some of the coolest vegetables you can serve with a meal. Some unusual cauliflower colors are purple, orange, and green.

Cauliflowers are a type of vegetable from the genus Brassica. This means that all types of cauliflower are related to vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. The part of cauliflower that is usually eaten is the dense flower made up of florets.

Here are descriptions of some unusual varieties of cauliflower:

Purple cauliflowers

One of the most unique types of cauliflower is the purple variety. The purple coloring is from natural anthocyanin pigments that are powerful antioxidants. This means that eating purple cauliflower may not be as weird as it sounds as they are healthier than standard white cauliflowers.

Orange cauliflowers

Orange cauliflowers are also interesting due to their ‘cheddar cheese’ color. These edible orange flowerheads have a sweeter taste than white cauliflowers. However, they may lose their orange color when cooked.

Green cauliflowers

Similar to the orange varieties, green cauliflowers have a mild sweet taste and they are not as crumbly as white cauliflowers.

Romanesco cauliflowers

Also called Romanesco broccoli, these cauliflowers are one of the most unusually-shaped vegetables you can find. The flowerhead is made from spiky florets that are arranged in a swirling pattern. This funky green vegetable looks like a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli with an almost ‘out-of-this-world’ appearance.

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