Flowers You’ve Never Heard Of / November 17, 2022

Being new to the floral industry feels like I’m stepping into a brand new world with pleasant surprises every day. Our Operations Manager, Tobey, is incredibly gifted in bringing in the most beautiful selection of flowers for our designers to choose from and just when I think I have seen them all, a new flower captures my attention and I think to myself, “No, this has to be my favorite.” We are all familiar with the more common flowers like roses, tulips, ranunculuses, peonies, dahlias, but there are some crazies out there (literally and figuratively) that completely blow my mind. And I’m sure will blow yours, too. In case you never get around to researching some of the weirdest flowers, I did it for you!

Monkey Face Orchid

This one is too cute not to be the first on the list. I know many of you have probably heard of the Monkey Face Orchid, but I couldn’t refrain myself. Scientifically known as Dracula simia, these beauties originate in Ecuador and can be found scattered throughout the regions of Columbia and Peru. This species is no easy feat to see, though, requiring many to walk about a mile above sea level in order to witness them in the wild. Growing Monkey Face Orchids yourself requires some previous knowledge and a lot of patience. They need cold climates and high humidity in order to thrive and the process of cultivating a bloom from these delicate flowers takes more than 7 years. I read an article by Henry Morgan on The Garden Style that because of the long bloom and cultivation process many people miss out on the medicinal benefits, but this species contains “antibacterial properties that are capable of eliminating or fighting microorganisms harmful to our body.” Monkey face orchid tea anyone?

Hooker’s Lips

Psychotria elata by day, Hooker’s Lips by night– our next flower is as luscious as they come. Like the Monkey Face Orchid, our next unusual flower has a similar origin and climate. Hooker’s Lips, Hot Lips, or my personal favorite, Mick Jaggar’s lips, is found on tropical trees throughout Central and South America specifically in countries such as Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, and Columbia. Although it’s named after its bright red liplike quality, those are actually leaves and it only remains in that state for a short amount of time before it reveals the actual flowers inside– small white blooms. While researching I came across an article on iNaturalist that stated due to the lack of scent, they heavily rely on their shape in order to attract pollinators, but thanks to deforestation and their popularity amongst collectors, they are now on the endangered species list.

Devil's Hand

Well, speak of the devil! Is this a blog post full of corny jokes or are you actually learning anything? Anyways! From the Latin word, Chiranthodendron Pentadactylon, Devil’s Hand, Mexican Hand Tree, Monkley’s Hand Tree, or whatever you see fit, is native to southern parts of Mexico and Guatemala. Immediately your attention is drawn to the vibrant yellow and red clawlike flowers resembling fingers. According to Global Trees Campaign, this tree had religious significance to the ancient Aztecs and they found uses for each part of the flower, “the red flowers are used medicinally as a traditional remedy for some heart diseases. The bark is used as rope and the large leaves are used to wrap food,” (“Devil’s Hand Tree”).

Dancing Girls

Originating in the rainforests of east Africa and in need of a mild climate year-round, the next flower on our list might be my favorite, Impatiens bequaertii, or shall I say, Dancing Girls. The resemblance is truly uncanny. Petite and rare, these girls are not the easiest to find, but those that are fortunate will be pleasantly surprised to find they come in white and soft pink and grow just about anywhere it touches soil. They make great additions to hanging plants as well as indoor plants. Do a little curtsy for us girls!

Snapdragon Seed Pod

Snapdragons are one of my favorite secondary flowers to include in arrangements. They always come in the most vibrant colors and add a unique texture which makes it hard to believe that from that comes this. Antirrhinum majus also known as the snapdragon seed pod. Little fuzzy, tiny skulls are left reminding you that flowers are living creatures. How a flower is able to go from one end of the spectrum to the other blows my mind. Snapdragons were considered to obtain mystical powers back in ancient times and people believed that if one had Snapdragons in their garden, their home was protected from evil, curses and all.

This information definitely didn’t stem from my brain. I had the pleasure of learning about these unique flowers from the sources below:

“Devil’s Hand Tree.” Global Trees, https://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/devils-hand-tree/.

“Devil’s Hand.” Secretflowerlanguage, https://www.secretflowerlanguage.com/Flower/Devil’s-Hand.

“Hot Lips (Psychotria Elata).” INaturalist, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/287472-Psychotria-elata.

Hughes, Nadina. “40 Of the World’s Weirdest Flowers.” Boing Boing, 26 Feb. 2015, https://boingboing.net/2015/02/26/40-of-the-worlds-weirdest-fl.html.

“Impatiens Bequaertii – ‘Dancing Girl Impatiens.’” Strange Wonderful Things, https://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/260.htm.

Morgan, Henry. “Monkey Face Orchid – Most Complete Guide -【2022】 the Garden Style.” The Garden Style, 2 May 2022, https://www.thegardenstyle.com/flowers/monkey-face-orchid-most-complete-guide/.