Most unusual house plants

[taskeinc]

1. Braided Snake Plant - treat just like the regular Snake Plant..
2. Hawaiian Pink Quill Plant - place in bright window and keep moist..
3. Rare Black Haunting Bat Plant - produces a sinister looking black flower that looks like a bat in flight. Requires bright light.

There are many other unusual looking house plants, such as the Goldfish plant. What are some of your unusual house plants?

 

[taskeinc]

This one is pretty wild, and actually more of an outdoor plant, but can be used as an indoor plant, as long as you have plenty of light..This is called the Juncus effusus Spiralis, or a Corkscrew Rush. It is a low maintenance grass-like perennial that grows to a height of about 18 inches. Primarily for outdoor enjoyment.

 

[taskeinc]

And one more unusual house plant is the Polka dot Begonia.. Likes well-draining potting soil with medium light (indirect sunlight) conditions. Polka dot Begonia's prefer temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees, along with plenty of humidity. Pinching polka dot plants will produce bushier growth as well.

 

[claudine]

It's not my plant but I find it really interesting:

It's Lithops, it looks like alive stones, it's so strange. It grows in Africa but it's possible to grow it indoors too, it just needs a lot of sun and not too much water

 

[taskeinc]

Wow, the Lithops is extremely unusual. I Google'd this odd plant and found something very interesting..

"Lithops (also known as flowering stones or living stones) are true mimicry plants (planted above the soil). Their shape, size and color causes them to resemble small stones in their natural surroundings. The plants blend in among the stones as a means of protection. Grazing animals which would otherwise eat them during periods of drought to obtain moisture usually overlook them. Even experts in the field sometimes have difficulty locating plants for study because of this unusual deceptive camouflage."

Nature is absolutely amazing!

 

[claudine]

Yes, sometimes it's really hard to tell whether they're stones or plants. No wonder animals are confused
Here are some more pictures, it's such an interesting plant:

 

[Lanie]

I had the polka dot begonia once upon a time. The spots look silvery in direct sun. I moved and it went into shock and never recovered. I didn't go and get a new one after, because I found some other interesting things to grow.

I love that creepy bat thing, very dramatic and beautiful. Here's a picture of a white one:

 

[claudine]

This bat plant is so creepy
Another extremely strange plant I've heard of is Dioscorea elephantipes. It doesn't look like something real:

 

[taskeinc]

You're right Claudine, the Bat plant is a little creepy looking, actually looks a little scary, but I'd still want one. It would be like the little dog that some people have, everyone on the outside, thinks it's the ugliest dog you've ever seen in your life, but if you're the owner, you love the dog unconditionally. That's how the bat-plant would be.

The first image of the Dioscorea elephantipes is odd looking but it's a uniquely gorgeous plant. I wonder if it's difficult to care for?

 

[claudine]

I heard it's really difficult to care for. You don't have to worry about watering it because it doesn't need a lot of water. But it needs a sunny, warm place and it doesn't like being trimmed. It has big problems with acclimating to new places And it goes dormant completely random, not only during winter (this is what I read but I don't know how is it possible).

 

[Jed]

We had a Hoya or wax plant growing for years around windows on string. It grows as a creeper and requires very very little to no water.

Every so often it would produce these waxy star shaped flowers that would give of a strong perfume particularly at night.

We eventually took it down as it was getting to unruly and the leaves were getting too dusty.

I found this youtube of a time lapse for the opening of the flowers. Check it out...

 

[claudine]

Wow, this is really interesting, I've never heard about this wax plant, these flowers look so strange! They look almost like they were artificial

 

[Jed]

They look almost like they were artificial

They certainly do. They have a sweet sickly fragrance that I'm not too fond of. My wife doesn't mind it at all.They seem to give it off at night.

 

[claudine]

Oh, I love sweet fragrances . I think I'd like this plant . It's strange that some plants give off the scent only - or mostly - at night.

 

[Jed]

Oh, I love sweet fragrances . I think I'd like this plant . It's strange that some plants give off the scent only - or mostly - at night.

You should give it a go.Easy to maintain trouble free indoor plant.My kind of indoor gardening.
Hoya carnosa has been shown in recent studies at the University of Georgia to be an excellent remover of pollutants in the indoor environment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoya