The Weirdest Looking Plant in the World

Hydnora Africana is a plant that lives in Southwest Africa. That is an underground plant that acts as a parasite to plants which belong to Euphorbiaceae family. Because it lives underground, the hydnora is achlorophyllous plant and it belongs to Hydnoraceae family.

It doesn’t need chlorophyll because it feeds with parasites from other plants’ roots. Hydnora Africana secretes an enzyme which allows it to dissolve some of the roots of its host plants in order to attach to them. That way it feeds with nutrients.

Its flowers grow from the ground like the head of a blind sea snake. The peachy-orange flowers emerge from the ground after heavy rain to get pollinated.

The flowers have a unique odor (something like feces) that attracts insects.

When it comes to fruits, they need two years to grow fully, taste like tomato, but they’re chilly. The fruit’s diameter is about 8 centimeters and one fruit has around 20,000 seeds.

The fruits serve as food for some birds and small animals.

Although this plant looks dangerous at first, it actually serves a purpose and is useful for the animals. That’s amazing, don’t you think?