World’s Rarest Plant’s
Written By: Sahaer N
Edited By: Howie Nguyen
Designed By: Howe Nguyen
Published By: Howie Nguyen
We see all sorts of beautiful, colorful flowers around us, our gardens, parks, schools, neighborhoods, and markets. Common flowers we see a lot of the time are roses, daisies, dandelions, or tulips. But do you ever wonder or think about how many rare plants there would be in this world that you haven’t ever seen. So, in this blog, we’ll be sharing some of the world’s rarest flowers that ever existed.
Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus)
Copse flowers are not just rare but also an endangered species, with an estimation of only 1,000 remaining in the wild. Not much is known about its history but they are located in the rainforest of Western Sumatra, Indonesia. It takes these plants seven to nine years for them to completely bloom. It is known as the Corpse Flower because it has a scent similar to rotting meat. Its scent, color, and size attract different sorts of insects and pollinators to ensure the continuation of these species. It can grow up to 3 meters tall and has only one petal in a cone-like structure which is green and red from the inside.
Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax Lindenii)
The ghost orchid is a spectacular white flower that has no leaves but consists mostly of branches that grow around tree bark. There is an estimation of 2,000 left in the wild and they can be found only in Cuba and the Flooded Forests of South Florida. These flowers are ta risk due to climate change and a lack of pollinators. The special thing about Ghost Orchids is that they don’t use photosynthesis like normal plants to make their food instead they consume energy from other plants in close contact. They’re called Ghost Orchids because they grow on trees which makes them look as if they’re floating like ghosts.
Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)
Chocolate Cosmos originally is from Mexico but sadly they are now extinct. A similar version of it had been created through vegetation propagation. It is red-brown and it has a strong fragrance of sweet chocolate. These flowers attract butterflies. It can reach a height of 40-70 centimeters in height. Places, where Chocolate cosmos used to bloom, are now protected by law and government.
Juliet Rose (Rosa Julia Child0
The Juliet rose flower is a distinctive and attractive rose flower. It has petals of peach and apricot coloration and is one of the world’s most expensive roses. In 1978, David Austin (horticulturist) developed the Juliet Rose and it had taken 15 years to do so.
Jade Vine (Strongylodon Macrobotrys)
Jade vine is a rare yet spectacular plant that blooms upside down from trees in the rainforest of the Philippine’s. It grows sharp claw-like shimmering turquoise flowers. This plant can grow 3 meters long. They rely mostly on bats as pollinators. The Jade vine is at the edge of extinction n the wild due to deforestation.
Fire Lily (Gloriosa Superba)
The fire Lily has the form of a trumpet and vibrant orange-red petals which resemble the colors of fire. They can grow up to 12 feet tall. They are native to many countries in Asia and are not that rare of a flower yet but are becoming extinct in countries like Sri Lanka and Oshida. This plant is poisonous for humans but is used for many medical purposes.
Middlemist’s Red (Middlemists Camellia) 
Middlemist’s Red is usually identified as a red rose but is a bright pink camellia. This Camellia is an antique flower that had become extinct in China when these flowers had been exported to the United Kingdom in the early 1800s by botanist John Middlemist. There are only 2 remaining Middlemist’s Red left in the world. One of them is growing in a botanica garden in New Zealand and one in a greenhouse located in England. When John Middlemist had come to England he had sold many of these flowers to the public, so it is very possible that a Middlemist’s Red could be growing in someone’s backyard. Who knows?
Franklin Tree Flower (Fraklinia Alatamaha)
The Franklin Tree Flower is a gorgeous 5 petaled white flower with green leaves. It was found in 1765 in the Altamaha river valley, in Georgia, in a state south of the U.S. It is believed that this plant went extinct by a fungal disease caused by cotton crops. This plant was originally named after Benjamin Franklin. Today Franklin Tree Flower exists through the seeds that were collected in the 1700s.
The unique and mysterious flowers listed above are extinct and are being led to extinction because of human activity. The damage we are causing to our environments and ecosystems is not reparable. To be able to reduce any further or more permanent damage to nature we can spread awareness about how crucial and important our environment is for us, this planet, and the future.
References
Bradford, A., & Dobrijevic , D. (2021, October 27). Corpse flower: Facts about the Smelly plant. LiveScience. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/51947-corpse-flower-facts-about-the-smelly-plant.html
Corpse flower. The Huntington. (n.d.). Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.huntington.org/corpse-flower#:~:text=History%20of%20the%20Corpse%20Flower,%2C%20or%20flower%2Dbearing%20structure
Gardening Know How. (n.d.). Caring for Chocolate Cosmos plants: Growing chocolate cosmos flowers. Caring For Chocolate Cosmos Plants: Growing Chocolate Cosmos Flowers. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/cosmos/growing-chocolate-cosmos.htm
Jaro, N. (2019, March 5). Top 10 rarest flowers in the world. Toptenz.net. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-rarest-flowers-in-the-world.php
Main, D. (2019, October 25). Florida’s rare ghost orchids are getting cut off from water. Science. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/florida-ghost-orchids-threatened-by-development
Noronha, A. (2020, December 7). 15 rare flowers in the world and what makes them so. Travel.Earth. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://travel.earth/top-13-most-rare-flowers-in-the-world/
Orford, E.-J. H. (2020, October 19). Homestead stories: The ghost orchid . Insteading. Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://insteading.com/blog/ghost-orchid/#:~:text=The%20Ghost%20Orchid%20Is%20Mostly,host%20tree%20like%20a%20parasite
Rose Garden, juliet-CA. Florabundance Wholesale Flowers. (2022, May 13). Retrieved July 6, 2022, from https://florabundance.com/flowers/peach-juliet-garden-roses/