rare flowers that are stunning to look at

The flower Youtan Poluo is said to bloom every three thousand years and is directly linked to Buddhism. However, researchers have put in doubt the truth of this assertion. The myth goes like this: Every three thousand years the blooming of the Youtan Poluo marks the arrival of a future king, or a reincarnation of the Buddha. One way or another, Youtan Poluo is an extremely rare flower.

The white lotus is called the Egyptian white water lily or the tiger lotus. The species comes from the Nymphaeaceae family and grows in various parts of Southeast Asia and East Africa. The blossoms float on water with the support of its lily pads. The white lotus is also a popular pond and aquarium plant.

The Snowdonia Hawkweed, one of the rarest flowers in the world, was rediscovered in 2002 growing on a mountain slope in Wales, decades after botanists feared it had become extinct. The unique flower was last reported seen in 1953, and was believed to have been nibbled to death by sheep. Fortunately, this wasn t the case after all.

The Shenzhen Nongke Orchid is a flower that was completely manmade and got its name from the group that conducted the experiment. It took the researchers eight years to grow and observe the flower. It sells for a high price (about

A sea poison tree is a large tree that grows on sandy and rocky shores and has large leaves held in rosettes at the ends of branches. The young leaves are a beautiful bronze with pinkish veins. Old leaves turn yellowish. The flowers are delightful puff balls of white stamens tipped with pink. They open at night and attract large moths and nectar feeding bats with their heavy scent.

This rare flower that hails from the Philippines has a very interesting background. After a two month expeditionary trip into the heart of the jungle on several islands, Stewart R. McPherson, Volker B. Heinrich, and Alastair S. Robinson discovered this plant. This discovery was considered an amazing find since the point of the expedition was to catalog the various indigenous pitcher plants of the Philippines, among which the Attenborough s Pitcher now has a place. The flower was named after British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. Because of his affinity for the various members of the pitcher plant genus, the homage is definitely appropriate.

This rare flower is found in the rain forests of Indonesia and is considered to be the flower with the world s largest bloom since it can grow to be three feet across and weigh up to fifteen pounds. It is a parasitic plant, with no visible leaves, roots, or stem. It attaches itself to a host plant to obtain water and nutrients. When in bloom, the Rafflesia emits a repulsive odor, similar to that of rotting meat. This odor attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

One of the strangest plants in the desert, the night blooming cereus, is a member of the cactus family that resembles nothing more than a dead bush most of the year. It is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one midsummer s night each year, its exquisitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the sun.

Imported to Britain two hundred years ago from China, when flowers were a luxury item in most of Europe, Middlemist red is one of the rarest in the world and exists in only two known locations: a greenhouse in the UK, and a garden in New Zealand.

Lisianthus are large gentian like, bell shaped flowers with pale purple petal like lobes that can be found exclusively in the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and northern South America. They bloom in summer from the upper leaf axils and they come in various colors including white, various shades of pink, lavender, deep purple, and bi colors such as blue violet.