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?
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