Okay I will add to this, I have a zz plant, that is putting out a new tuber, watching it develop it pretty weird. All the leaves are already there but they are slowly coming from the sheath. It's a new one for me. I agree the carnivorous plants are odd, they kind of creep me out since they eat insects, but I have one. Another one I will add, though it really isnt odd, is the passion flower, these produce the most amazing flowers. My 2 cents!!

Cool thread

Tracy

I'll make a contribution too. I find the Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum) very unusual...and beautiful at the same time. The way it looks and grows reminds me of something out of prehistoric times. Really strange and cool. Love it.

I think Bamboo fits also, be it real bamboo or even the fake "Lucky Bamboo".

If we count flowers then I've seen some strange orchids. I've seen orchids that are tiny grow GIANT flowers. Certain cacti do it also I'm told but I don't know which ones. I recall seeing a cacti on Yahoo Image search that had a flower larger then the cacti itself, so large I'm amazed it didn't tip over.

How about that blooming onion? Someone gave me a bulb last year, I planted it in a pot with a trellis and it grew like crazy, a big lacy several yards long vine with asparagas fern-like leaves and yellow flowers. Very strange.

Is a blooming onion the same thing as a "pregnant onion".

No, ines is refering to Bowiea volubilis, aka climbing onion, It's a big bulb with whispy growth, look in your Logees catalog, you should find it there.

I think that port afras are strange.

They grow like crazy. Then all of a sudden things come to a halt sometime in the fall. No wind down. Just all of a sudden, SCREEEECH!!

So all during late fall and winter they want to be left alone. Give them some water when the leaves droop. Then, all of a sudden in the spring, they wake up as suddenly as they fell asleep. One day they look the same way they did all fall and winter, but the next day new growth will be all over them.

I can't find info on "port afras" is there another name?

Here's a few more

Tumbleweed - I keep threatening my neighbors with this. Can you imagine a cool autumn night when the town is silent, you're standing on your porch enjoying the cool air. All of a sudden you see a tumbleweed or two blow by and you can practically hear the Spaghetti Western theme music in your head.

Hemlock both varieties for the name sake and toxicity.

Catnip and Valerian for their effect on cats and people. Cats go crazy to both, people relax. Nature is strange to produce a plant with such striking effects and even more strange to make those effects vary so much by species. Anytime you see a cat go crazy rolling in a plant you'll agree that it is something remarkable.

Also that tree that attaches it's seeds to a wing counts but I can't recall what it is right now.

I'm sorry...

Portulacaria Afra. Elephant Bush. Elephant's Food.

It's not so much that they're strange. I just think it's funny the way they suddenly stop growing and months later, suddenly start up again.

How about kalanchoe(s) bryophyllum, and tubiflora (actually I'm not sure those names are still correct) the one's that produce plantlets all along the edges of the leaves (or in case of the tubiflora,at the tips)of course a lot of succulents and cacti are pretty unusual, especially the monstrose forms (love those)!

One of my favorite strange plant is the lithop, aka living stones. They have two fleshy leaves that come right out of the soil (about 1 to 2 inches) with no stem. They really look like rocks instead of plants. They come in various colors and textures. The life cycle is cool too. The leaf pair will "split" and a new pair of leaves will emerge as the original two leaves dries up. If given the correct growing conditions this little plant will produce a single flower that covers the plant. This daisy like flower is usually yellow or white. For a picture and more info check out lithops in Wikipedia encyclopedia or any one of the many web sites that sell them.

mkiker, I think you are right, blooming onion, pregnant onion, same thing. It's an interesting plant, but not one I would want to grow indefinately. The girl who gave it to me has a few growing in her kitchen window, she put up a "string trellis" and the foliage of the plant acts as a living curtain. I guess the main bulb eventually gives birth to little baby bulbs and that is what she gave me.

Now I need to find someone to take it!

Pregnant onion has thick strap-like leaves sprouting from a bulb, whereas Bowiea has thin, lacey leaves that looks best grown on a trellis. I think the Bowiea is gorgeous, much nicer-looking than pregnant onion..I've the pregant but looking for the Bowiea.,..they want 15.00 per bulb..ha! Toni

I've seen pics of the two onions. A Pregnant Onion is too ugly to live. Natural selection should have ended that ages ago. However I didn't ask for the prettiest, I said the strangest. That it certainly is.

The Bowiea is better looking.

That Rock plant is just dog on ugly in it's pics but I imagine it would look cool in person. I can imagine a garden full of it.