MY TOP 3 CREEPIEST PLANTS

GRACE'S GARDEN

October 28, 2020

Personally, there are quite a few plants I find rather creepy, dangerous, or both, but I’d like to relay my top three to you in honor of Halloween!

To start: While this first plant may not be at the top of other people’s list for all-time creepiest plants, the rafflesia arnoldii is certainly dominating mine.

You may have heard of it being called the corpse lily because it supposedly smells like rotting flesh. While I can neither confirm nor deny that considering I’ve never been in it’s presence, just looking at photos of the thing is enough to send shivers down my spine.

To note: The corpse lily is gigantic (for a flower) and an ugly reddish-orange with pimply bumps decorating it’s putrid petals, so unknowingly stumbling upon it while in a tropical region in Asia (as that’s where it’s native) would probably not be the most pleasant experience.

Another creepy plant, appearance wise, would be the actaea pachypoda or doll’s eyes. As you may have guessed by its nickname, doll’s eyes is a plant that looks like little eyeballs are sprouting in clusters all around. Not my cup of tea.

Also known as white baneberry, this plant is toxic to the point where it’s fatal. Eating just a few of the little “eyeballs” can cause an uncomfortable reaction that’ll put any creature on death’s door rather fast.

Moving on: What would a list of spooky plants be without the mention of atropa belladonna, otherwise known as deadly nightshade.

The thing that makes this plant so creepy for me, other than it’s feature in one of Tim Burton’s films, is that it’s actually kind of beautiful. You see, it’s a flower with black petals and berries sprouting all over, so it’s enticing appearance can be very misleading which I find rather off-putting.

And while I trust most of you won’t shovel a random plant into your mouth the first chance you get, it’s certainly better safe than sorry.

Honestly, this list could go on and on, but those are the top three plants I would prefer to avoid or admire from afar this Halloween.