And look what kind of alien flowers I will show you.
African Hydnora is one of the strangest looking plants. It is, of course, not the most common, and it is quite difficult to stumble upon it by chance during a trip to Africa.
The African Hydnora has such a look that you can't even tell right away that this is a plant. This creation of nature is more like a mushroom - and remains so until the flower opens. Actually, the flower is named in honor of the mushroom (gidnor in Greek means: mushroom) But the flowers of gidnor do not appear for several years - until in South Africa, where the plant lives, there is the required amount of precipitation.
When the plant squeezes to the surface with bright orange flowers, it reaches a height of 10 or even 15 centimeters. Well, the fact that Gidnora has "bright orange" flowers, we, of course, embellished it. They are only like that inside, but outside - they are of the color that the people usually call gray-brown-goat.
This plant grows in the desert in southern Africa, Arabia and about. Madagascar. The appearance of gidnora is very specific, some say that its flower looks like a snake's head, which opens its mouth wide, while others call it an unusual mushroom until it opens its bright orange petals. Also, the flower has an unpleasant odor that attracts insects.
Promotional video:
African Hydnora belongs to insectivorous and parasitic plants, it sticks to other plants with its roots and, extracting nutrients from them, lives at their expense until the rainy season. It is a long underground stem with roots; the gidnora has no leaves.
He spends most of his life underground and appears on its surface only after a certain amount of precipitation has fallen. After rain, the flower emerges from the ground and can reach a length of 10-15cm.
The flower opens gradually: first, the petals diverge at the base and middle, letting in beetles, which "travel" through the flower, carry pollen and fertilize it, and then the flower blooms completely. Having opened, it emits a putrid smell, thereby luring dung beetles and flies, which, after pollination, can dine. In the process of pollination, a large number of seeds are formed.
After the flower dies off, beetles use its petals to lay the larvae, which will grow and develop there. After this phase in its development, the flower-monster again switches to a parasitic way of life.
Some animals, as well as local residents, use the seeds of this plant for food. The pulp of the flower is quite fleshy and juicy, berry-like, which makes it possible to cook from non-culinary masterpieces.
If the flower is already old and its flesh begins to decompose, female beetles can lay larvae in the dying flower, which live and develop in the dying plant. The fruits of African gidnora are quite edible and are eaten not only by various animals: baboons, jackals, foxes or porcupines, but also by local residents. In Madagascar, the fruits of this plant are considered one of the best growing on the island, and are used to prepare various dishes, and the flowers and roots of hydnora are used to treat diseases of the cardiovascular system.