This African flower smells like faeces and looks like a scary vagina with sprouted fangs

by Aswathy Gopinath9 years ago
Picture This African flower smells like faeces and looks like a scary vagina with sprouted fangs

You look at this picture, and it is inevitable that you jump to countless conclusions. However, contrary to whatever it is that you may choose to believe, this is a plant. More specifically, it is the upper part of the flower of a plant.

Hydnora africana
Image source: reddit

Yes, we know: that’s not what a flower usually looks like. This, my friends, is Hydnora Africana – the rebel amongst flowers. Also called “Jackal Food,” Hydnora Africana is a parasitic plant that is often classified among the strangest plants in the world. And we can see why. The family to which this plant belongs spends most of its life underground, deriving nutrients from the roots of host plants.

Advertisements

Hydnora Africana are most commonly found in the coastal strip from South Africa to southwestern Angola. The bright red/salmon color of the flower’s insides serves the same purpose as normal flowers – that of “advertising” the plant. Other than that, the flowers hold no similarity to other flowers. The flower of this plant is characterized by three openings which, looked at from different angles, look like different things; I, for one, see a monster’s mouth.

Jackal Food
Image source: mudfooted.com

The flower also smells pretty bad; it smells, in fact, of feces. And although you may cringe, dung beetles would only be too happy to go cosying up to the flower. To each its own, I say. These beetles, once they push into the flower, are trapped. While trapped, they pick up or deposit pollen, and are only released once the flower opens fully. This way, these beetles help the plant reproduce.

Hydnora africana (bobbejaankos)
Image source: fimagenes.com

The fruits of the Hydnora Africana can measure up to 80mm across, and can contain nearly 20,000 seeds per fruit, and they apparently taste pretty good too. It is said to be part of traditional Khoi food, and is often thought to possess medicinal properties that help cure dysentery, kidney and bladder complaints, and acne.

[sources: 1, 2 ]

Find us on YouTube Bizarre Case of Gloria Ramirez, AKA “The Toxic Lady”
Picture This African flower smells like faeces and looks like a scary vagina with sprouted fangs
You May Also Like
OUR RECENT VIDEOS
background
10 of the Weirdest Birds You Never Knew Existed Picture
background
10 Unbelievable Facts About Space Picture
background
This Is What Everyday Foods Look Like Before they Are Harvested Picture
background
The Mysterious Disappearance Of The Sri Lankan Handball Team Picture
background
How Were Dinosaur Fossils Not Discovered Until The 1800s? Picture
background
Why Does Time Go Faster As We Grow Older? Picture
background
Why Aren’t Planes Getting Faster? Picture
background
10 Events That Can Wipe Out Humanity Picture