Passion flower, is also known as maypop because in parts of the Southeastern United States, the plants seem to ‘pop’ up in May. In some places passion flowers are considered an invasive weed and can be found crawling over the countryside.
Titan Arum
Titan arums are true giants amongst flowering plants: the circumference of their huge flowers can be over three metres and they stand three metres high and the single leaf grows to the size of a small tree. Their smell, likened to rotting meat, is so bad it led to the common name ‘corpse flower’.
Rafflesia Flower
Transforms to flower, at around midnight in rainy seasons. Rafflesia flower is the largest and heaviest single flower in the world and have a stink of rotten flesh. Hence, it is also known as corpse flower or meat flower. Rafflesia flowers are red in color with five leathery and speckled petals. These flowers can have a diameter of up to one meter and can have a weight of around 7 to 11 kilograms.
There is even more to tell of its ‘discovery’ and its claim to fame as the largest flower on earth. In the year 1818, Sir Stamford Raffles was posted as Governor to Bencoolen in Sumatra which was then, the administrative centre for the British East India Company for Western Sumatra. Raffles’s interest in natural sciences was insatiable.
Magnolia
Magnolias are an ancient race that existed before the bees. The first flowering tree on earth. The flowers developed because of that are pollinated by beetles. It is found fossil remains of Magnolia acuminata, which is more than 20 million years old. Formerly they were called Tulip Tree.
The genus is named after Pierre Magnol, a botanist from Montpellier in France. We have to thank the French botanists. They have given us a lot of beauty in our gardens.
One of spring’s first flowers that bloom on almost bare twigs. The magnolia is also available in many beautiful colors and varieties. Fits just fine even in the small garden. This tree is one of my absolute favorites.
Did you know that magnolia is actually related to the Waterlily
