- The most insidious man-eating plant in the world, the sun wheel flower
In the dense primeval forests and vast swamps of the Amazon River Basin in South America, there grows a terrifying man-eating plant called the sun wheel flower. The leaves of the sun wheel flower are generally about 1 meter long, and the flowers are scattered on the leaves.
Does the sun wheel flower hunt for food for the black widow spider?
The sun wheel flower can emit an attractive orchid-like fragrance that can be smelled from a long distance. The sun wheel flower is different from ordinary plants. This flower is very sensitive and powerful. If an animal touches its stems, leaves or petals, the slender leaves will immediately stretch out like eagle claws and grab the animal tightly. At this time, the black widow spider hiding behind the sun wheel flower will quickly come out to bite the animal. The black widow spider has a venom gland in its jaw that can secrete a neurotoxic protein liquid. When the venom enters the animal, it will kill the animal in a very short time.
Why does the sun wheel flower hunt for food for the black widow spider? It turns out that the dead bodies of animals have become the food of the black widow spider, and the excrement excreted is a particularly good nutrient for the sun wheel flower. With these nutrients, the sun wheel flower can thrive.
Therefore, the sun wheel flower does its best to hunt for food for the black spider, and the black widow spider also provides nutrients for the sun wheel flower on time and in a trustworthy manner. It can be said that wherever there are sun wheel flowers, there must be man-eating black widow spiders. They cooperate and win-win, and rely on each other.
Because they are closely related, not to mention animals, even the local South Americans are very afraid of the sun wheel flower. Whenever they see it, they will stay away from it, so that the sun wheel flower and the black widow spider survive for a long time.
How does the sun wheel flower eat people?
Unlike ordinary plants, the sun wheel flower is very sensitive and powerful. If someone wants to pick its flowers, no matter if it touches its stems, leaves or petals, the slender leaves will immediately stretch out like eagle claws and hold the person tightly. At the same time, the large spider hiding next to the sun wheel flower, the black widow spider, quickly rushed to bite the human body. This spider has a poison gland in its upper jaw, which can secrete a neurotoxic protein liquid. When the venom enters the human body, it will kill people in a very short time.
- The most terrifying tree, the man-eating tree
In some places in Madagascar, Africa, there is a tree that eats people. It is shaped like a huge pineapple, about 3 meters high, with a cylindrical trunk and snake-like branches, so the locals call it the “snake tree”.
This tree is extremely sensitive. When a bird lands on its branches, it will soon be caught and disappear. American botanist Lisel personally felt the power of the snake tree in 1937: when he accidentally touched the branch, his hand was quickly entangled, and it took a lot of effort to get out, but a large piece of meat was pulled off the back of his hand.
- The walking tree
There is an interesting and strange plant called Selaginella growing in South America. Also known as the Nine-Death Resurrection Grass, it is not only a foliage plant, but also a medicinal plant. It has the effects of hemostasis and astringency, and is effective in treating blood in stool, hematuria, and nosebleeds.
Whenever the climate is dry and there is a serious lack of water, it will pull its roots out of the soil by itself, and then change its body to curl up into a sphere, becoming light and round. As long as there is a little wind, it can roll on the ground with the wind. Once it rolls to a place with sufficient water, the sphere will quickly open and restore its “true appearance”. The roots will drill into the soil again and settle down temporarily.
- The sexiest flower in the world, the lip flower
As the name suggests, the lip flower is named after the shape of the flower that looks like the sexy and attractive lips of humans. This wonderful flower is bright red in color and has a strange shape. It is mainly distributed in the tropical rainforests of some American countries.
Its red part that looks like lips is not a petal, but can only be regarded as a bract of the flower. At the same time, this bright red attractive lips are natural, without any technical treatment, and the flowering period is about December to March.
- Plants that give birth to babies like animals
On some tropical beaches, there grows a viviparous plant community—mangroves. The seeds of this mangrove do not fall off after maturity, but continue to develop on the mother tree until they grow into stick-shaped seedlings with supporting roots and breathing roots. They fall to the muddy ground on the beach with the wind and grow into a forest independently.
- The laughing tree that makes laughter
In Kigali, the capital of Rwanda in eastern Africa, there is a Jimedalanhade Botanical Garden, where there is a tree that makes a “Ha! Ha!” laugh. The laughing tree is a small tree that can grow to seven or eight meters high, with a dark brown trunk and oval leaves. There is a fruit between each branch, shaped like a bell. There are many small ball-like pistils in the fruit that can roll in the fruit skin. There are many small spots on the shell of the fruit. Whenever the breeze blows, the fruit rolls inside and makes a “ha! ha!” sound.
The ability of the laughing tree to laugh is cleverly used by people. They plant it beside the field. Whenever birds fly over, they hear bursts of laughter and think that people are coming. They dare not land, thus protecting the crops from damage. Interestingly, in some places in Arab countries, there is another tree that can make people laugh. It can “laugh” during the day and “cry” at night, making different sounds. After research, botanists believe that this wonderful phenomenon is closely related to sunlight.
- The longest-lived leaf in the plant kingdom
In the narrow desert belt near the coast in southwestern Africa, from a distance, there are some things like big stumps growing in scattered places. It is called centenarian leaf.
Centenarian leaf
The centenarian leaf looks very strange. The stump-like thing is its stem, which is less than 30 cm high, but very thick, with a diameter of about 60 cm. Although the centenarian leaf has only two leaves, it coexists with its life and can grow for more than 100 years, so it is called the centenarian leaf. This is the longest-lived leaf in the plant kingdom.
- Spindle trees that can flow out “drinks”
The spindle tree grows on the Brazilian plateau in South America. From a distance, it looks like a giant spindle stuck in the ground. The spindle tree is 30 meters high, with pointed ends and swollen in the middle. The thickest part can reach a diameter of 5 meters, and it can store about 2 tons of water. During the rainy season, it absorbs a lot of water and stores it to supply its own consumption during the dry season.
Like the traveler’s banana, the spindle tree can provide water for travelers in the desert. People only need to dig a small hole in the tree, and the refreshing and thirst-quenching “drink” can flow out continuously, solving the urgent problem of water shortage in the vast sea of sand.
- Plants that maintain a constant temperature
Australian scientists have discovered some “warm-blooded plants”. Regardless of the external environment, the temperature of the plant flowers always remains constant. They named this type of plant “warm-blooded plants”.
For example, the temperature of the kudzu flower is about 38℃, and when the outside temperature reaches 20℃, its temperature is still maintained at about 40℃. The temperature regulation ability of warm-blooded plants is to treat their own flowers as a miniature environment, thereby attracting insects and increasing the probability of pollination.
- The largest and oldest tree in the legend
This is the largest and oldest tree in the legend, a thousand-year-old tree in India. Human beings are so small. Many people suspect that it is a baobab tree, saying that the tree is hollow in the middle to store water. Some even think that the tree is fake and made of cement.