Juliet Rose
The Juliet Rose is not only thought to be one of the rarest flowers in the world, but it’s also the rarest rose in the world because it took 15 years for rose grower David Austin to cultivate the flower in England. It also cost him a whopping $4.3 million to do so.
Their strong, heady fragrance varies with age, from tea rose through to a delicious peachy-citrus scent. Sweet Juliet is an excellent rose shrub of exceptional health and vigour that rarely gets diseases. This rare flower grows up to a height of 3.5 feet (105 cm) and 3 feet across (90 cm). Preserved Juliet Roses can last up to three years.
The Juliet Rose made its debut at the Chelsea flower show in 2006, earning the title “the most expensive rose ever cultivated”.
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Pagoda Flower
The Pagoda Flower is in the mint family, Lamiaceae, and has a wide native range, from India to Southeast Asia. It can grow to be 6 feet or taller and at least as wide, and in the “Rainforest” is a staple of summer.
The Pagoda Flower is a favourite of swallowtails and it is not uncommon to see six or more butterflies feeding at once on one large flower cluster in the “Rainforest” exhibit. This is possible because a flower cluster can have hundreds of flowers, many open at the same time, and a mature plant can have a flower cluster over a foot tall and nearly as wide. The Pagoda Flower tends to prefer wet soil and is happiest in filtered light or morning sun.
Be on the lookout for new plants popping up nearby as the Pagoda Flower does like to spread by suckers like many other species of Clerodendrum.
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Raflesia Flower
Raflesia is a genus of the Parasatic plant family in the family of Raflesia. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flower in the world.
Raflesias are mostly present in Asia. This plant has no roots, stems or leaves. The only part we can observe outside is its five petals. The largest Raflesia was found in Sumatra and was 120 m wide. Raflesia flowers are known to generate a heat and a smell of rotten meat. Also this flower was recorded with its highest weight of 12 kg. In Indonesia and in Malaysia its known as Padma while in Javanese it’s called Patma.
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The Neelakurinji Flower
In 2018, the beautiful hills of Munnar once again attracted people the world over to view a very special phenomenon in person. This monumental event is the blooming of the Neelakurinji flower, which appears once every 12 years, and can only be viewed in Munnar.
Neelakurinji blooms in 40 or so varieties, a majority of them being blue in colour. Neela literally translates to “blue” and kurinji is the name given to it by the tribals of the area. The previous flowering of the Neelakurunji was in 2006. The time for viewing them begins in August and lasts up to October.
In Munnar, one can view this great sight from Kovilur, Kadavari, Rajamala and Eravikulam National Park. Eravikulam is incidentally home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, hosting a majority of the remaining population of the species on the planet. One can view the shorter variation at higher spots and longer variations are seen at lower spots.
Specialised tours of this rare phenomenon are available during this time period around the area and treks are organised to view this masterpiece of nature. It is like a secret glimpse into heaven, allowed only once every 12 years.
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Middlemist red flower
The Middlemist Red Flower is a deep pink, rose-like flower not red as its name suggests. With lush green foliage, it was imported as a luxury item from China over 200 hundred years ago. By the mid-1820s, it was pretty much wiped out in its native habitat of China. There are now just two known locations of this plant: New Zealand and Great Britain.
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The Fire Lily
While the Fire Lily, also known as the Flame Lily, is not that rare a flower, it’s quickly becoming endangered in some countries. The Fire Lily is a distinct trumpet-shaped flower with red and orange-yellow coloured petals, making it look like flames.
These flowers are native to Asia and tropical parts of Africa. It’s now rare in Sri Lanka and close to extinction in Odisha, making it a very rare flower in India. It’s also considered an invasive species in countries like Australia, Cook Islands, and French Polynesia. While these flowers are found in the wild, they are also known to pop up in people’s yards. It is toxic to humans and can also cause skin irritation.
It can grow up to a height of 12 feet. It’s also used for medicinal purposes.
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The Corpse Flower
The Corpse Flower is known as one of the rarest flowers in the world because it blooms just once in a few decades.
As it can reach up to 3.6 metres in height, it’s also known as one of the largest flowers in the world.
This flower has no roots, leaves or even a stem. Moreover, it seems to have only one petal, which is green on the outside and burgundy red on the inside and is shaped like a cone.
When the Corpse Flower is in bloom it emits a foul odour, similar to that of rotting flesh or rotten meat to attract flies and carrion beetles.
Corpse Flowers are found only in the low-lying rainforests of Indonesia. In captivity, they grow mainly in gardens in Sumatra. The corpse flower is so rare, blooming once in a few decades, that people gather at botanical gardens to see and smell them. It seems strange that people are willing to spend time and energy to smell something like rotten meat, isn’t it?
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The Franklin Tree flower
The Franklin Tree Flower is listed among the rare flowers in the world as it has been extinct in the wild since the early 1800s. It’s a beautiful five-petalled white flower with clusters of golden yellow stamens in the centre. This cup-shaped flower belongs to the tea family and is one-of-a-kind as it is the only of the Franklinia genus. The plant has dark green leaves which turn red in Autumn.
The flowers give off a sweet honeysuckle-like scent. Native to the Altamaha River valley in Georgia, a southeastern US state, this flower no longer grows in the wild.
However, it is a popular garden plant. It is speculated that the plant became extinct in the wild due to a fungal disease. All the Franklin Tree Flowers in existence today, come from the seeds that were collected in the 1700s. It was first discovered in 1765.
Yashodhara Paranagama
Musaeus College
Colombo