This week I saw a post on Facebook that surprised me. After something like 18 years in the flower industry I have seen many spectacular blooms, but realistically, I probably haven’t even seen 10% of the beauty and wonder out there. But one flower that I have seen almost day in and day out, either in store or in gardens surrounding me, has surprised me this week, and I suspect I am not alone….
This is the post I saw on Facebook via several pages this week;
The Strelitzia, is also known as a ‘crane flower ‘ or ‘Bird of Paradise’ because of its likeness to an exotic bird. The explanation doesn’t go any further, and you are left to connect the dots yourself so if like me, you assumed it was simply the head of a gorgeous bird with showy plumes, I have now come to realise how very wrong we were. And now that the illustration has been shown to me, I can’t believe I never saw the whole bird body in flight before 🙄
Perhaps this is just a case of not seeing what is right below your nose, because as I said, Strelitzia flowers are readily available, both to florists and also as a common garden variety plant. But there are many amazing flowers that look like other things in the plant kingdom; they offer a combination of wonder, beauty and humour courtesy of Mother Nature.
Take for example Impatiens Psittacina, more commonly known as the Parrot flower. These dainty blooms look like a brightly coloured bird complete with fluttering wings and a long tail.
Or check out these gorgeous babies all swaddled and cosy. Believe it or not but these gorgeous little cherubs are Anguloa Uniflora, also known as a Tulip Orchid, originating in the Andes regions around Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador.
This orchid variety (Habenaria-Radiata) is found throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Russia, and resembles a white egret with its plumage puffed out.
We also have the fascinating Monkey Faced Orchid, Dracula Simia, where each bloom appears to have a primitive face staring back at you. These orchids are rare and grow in South America, in the cloudy high altitude forests of southeastern Ecuador and Peru. Plus, when the bloom is fully developed, it smells just like a ripe orange 🍊 Well, fancy that.
Another Orchid, Orchis italica, is commonly referred to as the naked man orchid, and resembles a well….naked man. The Orchid is native to the Mediterranean.
By no means is this list exhaustive….there are so many weird and wonderful varieties of plants out there that look like something else. If you have seen something fascinating, feel free to share it via our Facebook page- we love seeing all things weird, wild and wacky. Who knows, perhaps you can shed some light on something that has long been under our nose, that we haven’t quite ‘seen’ yet.
Fwf x
