Strange and Unusual Plants

Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, is a very toxic herb that, when eaten, causes delirium, hallucinations, and eventually death. The name of the plant translates to “beautiful lady.” During the medieval period women used the juice of the berries to dilate their pupils to appear more attractive. Belladonna has also been the poison of choice throughout history and literature, and its reputation led to the belief that witches could use it to fly. The plant belongs to the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. This highly poisonous plant is native to wooded or waste areas in central and southern Eurasia. The plant has dull green leaves, violet or greenish flowers, sweet shiny black berries, and a large tapering root.

Bleeding heart is native to Siberia, northern China, Korea, and Japan. The plant gets its name from its heart shape, with the distinctive white tips resembling droplets. In the 19th century, botanist Robert Fortune introduced the first specimen to the UK. Bleeding hearts bloom in the springtime. Prefers partial to full shade and well-drained soil. It thrives in cooler climates and is often found in woodland gardens. All parts of the plant are toxic if ingested, so caution is advised around pets and children.

The carrion plant is a flowering plant native to the desert regions of Tanzania and South Africa. The plant was given its name due to its repulsive smell. It releases a rotting flesh odor to attract flies to pollinate it. Carrion flowers have thick four-sided grooved stems, often colored or covered with outgrowths. The flowers have purple, red, or yellow bars and markings and are often hairy or textured. The fruit is a follicle.

The cobra lily, or California pitcher plant, is a carnivorous plant. It grows in bogs. The name comes from the plant’s tubular top that resembles a cobra’s hood, and the forked leaf looks like a tongue. The plant traps insects by luring them in; once the prey is inside, light shining through the translucent hood prevents it from finding the exit. The downward-pointing hairs ensure the insect's trip is one way. The cobra plant is native to swamps in mountain areas of northern California and southern Oregon.

Cockscomb is a bushy plant with dense brain-like flowers nicknamed wool flower or brain celosia. They are known in traditional medicine and have been used to treat everything from headaches to menstrual cramps. This flowering plant gets its name from its unique resemblance to a rooster’s comb or, as some may say, a “cockscomb.” Native to tropical regions of Africa, the cockscomb plant has gained popularity across the world for its stunning beauty and varied colors. The flowers are edible and attract pollinators. They symbolize love and admiration in some cultures.

The corpse flower also has a repulsive smell of rotten bodies when blooming. It can take five to ten years for the flower to bloom and then again another two to ten years to bloom once more. It is a flowering plant known for having the biggest flower in the world, though it is actually the world's largest unbranched inflorescence—a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem. Native to the rainforests of Sumatra, the corpse flower belongs in a category of plants known for having carrion flowers, or blooms that smell like rotting animals, to attract scavengers as pollinators.

The ghost plant gets its name from its unusual coloring. It lacks chlorophyll and doesn’t need to photosynthesize due to its symbiotic relationship with fungi, getting its nutrition through parasitism. This gives the plant an ethereal glow and the ability to grow in dark forests.

Hemlock is extremely hardy and poisonous. It is an invasive plant with its seeds and roots particularly poisonous. Hemlock has a repulsive smell. In ancient Greece it was used to poison prisoners, among them the philosopher Socrates. The plant has tall, hollow stems with purple spots and produces small white flowers in umbrella-shaped clusters.

Japanese bloodgrass, or cogon grass, gets its name from the blood-red spikes. This is a perennial plant popular for its bold color. However, it is highly invasive and very flammable, burning at higher temperatures, which can lead to wildfires. In its native areas it has been used for thatching roofs of traditional buildings, weaving mats and bags, and making paper, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine. It has become naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions outside its native range, including the southeastern U.S. as far north as Virginia, and is considered an invasive weed in many places.

Witches’ hair is also known by another spooky kind of name, strangleweed. It is a genus of more than 200 different parasitic plants. Native to tropical climates but also appears in temperate areas, including the UK. The plant is identifiable as a mass of green, brown, or orange spaghetti-like substance hanging from trees. Since witch's hair has no chlorophyll, it needs to feed from other plants to reproduce. Witch’s Hair has long been used by Northwest Natives as a source of fiber, for example, for diapers and bandages. It was used on dance masks as false hair, and ponchos and footwear were woven from it, although it was considered inferior to hides for this purpose.

Beginning this with one of my favorite phrases from werewolf movies—"when the moon is full and the wolfsbane blooms"—evokes themes of mystery and folklore.

Wolfsbane (pictured above) is the name of a genus of flowering plants in the Ranunculaceae family and is identifiable by its lovely flowers. The plant is a fast-acting poison that results in nausea, vomiting, paralysis, and breathing and heart problems before killing a person. Wolfsbane was used to make poison arrows in China and was a popular poison in ancient Rome. It got its name during the time it was used to poison wolves and panthers in the 18th century. As fact often blurs into fiction, this use has morphed in popular culture, where it is often shown to be an effective werewolf deterrent. All parts of the plant contain potent toxins, making it one of the most hazardous flora. The most identifiable feature of wolf’s bane is its unique flowers, which are often dark purple or bluish-purple, though white, yellow, or pink varieties also exist. These flowers have a characteristic helmet- or hood-like upper sepal, which gives rise to common names like “monkshood” or “devil’s helmet.” The flowers are typically arranged in tall racemes or clusters atop the stem.