Silk floss tree
With their fat, thorny trunks and branches, tropical-looking foliage, and exotic, hibiscus-like flowers, the floss-silk trees are among the most distinctive ornamental trees for regions where frosts are not severe.
Silphium
Silphium was a plant that was used in classical antiquity as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant.
Xanthorrhoea malacophylla
Xanthorrhoea malacophylla is a species of grasstree of the genus Xanthorrhoea. It is endemic to New South Wales, Australia. Mature plants form a single or branched trunk that ranges between 2 and 6 metres in height.
Worsleya
The worsleya grows in very extreme and moist environments, and is commonly found near waterfalls in rich soil situated on granite rocks.
Fly orchid
The fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera) is native to Europe and favors sites with alkaline soil. The name arises because it resembles a fly, being totally dependent on flies and bees for pollination. The plants use scent to attract male flies, which pollinate the flowers as they attempt to mate with the flower. The scent released by the flowers mimic female fly sexual pheromones.
Ravenala madagascariensis
Originally from Madagascar, the Ravenala is currently planted worldwide in tropical areas. As a result, this special exotic reminds inevitably of holidays. The common name “Travelers tree” is due to the myth that travelers would survive due to the accumulated moisture in the leaf bases.
Het Loo Palace
Het Loo Palace is a palace in the Netherlands. The private garden is situated in the back. It is often mislabeled the Versailles of Holland but actually serves to show more differences than similarities.
Leonhart Fuchs
Leonhart Fuchs was a German physician and one of the three founding fathers of botany, along with Otto Brunfels and Hieronymus Bock
Titan arum
The titan arum, also called corpse flower, is known for its massive foul-smelling inflorescence (cluster of flowers). The plant is endemic to the steep hillsides of rainforests in western Sumatra but is cultivated in botanic gardens worldwide.
Strangling fig
Perhaps the most famous hemiepiphyte is the towering strangler fig tree which starts life as a tiny seed in the canopy. The roots grow down to the forest floor where they take root and begin to take nutrients from the soil. Gradually the roots wrap around the host tree, widen, and slowly form a lattice-work that surround the host's trunk. The fig's crown grows foliage which soon overshadows the tree. Eventually, the host tree dies leaving the fig with a hollow trunk-which is easily climbed thanks to the many openings in the trunk. Figs are often the only tree species remaining after forest clearing since their knotted and twisted wood is shunned by loggers.