The wisteria is oft-cited as one of the most romantic and enchanting flowering plants to grace the earth, and as the image above suggests, such esteem is warranted. While its sweet, grape-scented flowers take years to bloom (the Japanese wisteria will only flower after maturing fully), its marvelousness can last for up to fifty years.

Source: Hype Science

The Corpse Flower

Source: University of Wisconsin

Flowers are said to symbolize innocence, life and beauty. How ironic, then, that the largest of them all is evocative of death. Titan arum, or the corpse flower, exists naturally in the rain forests of Western Sumatra and in the gardens of botany big-leaguers throughout the world. With dark purple coloring not unlike bruises and pooled blood, the corpse flower’s imposing size is as commanding as its carrion stench: at its heaviest, the imposing plant weighs in at around 165 pounds with a height of over 10 feet.

Source: Wild Birds Unlimited

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Source: Wikimedia, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/PanellusStipticusAug12_2009.jpg

While it is called a bitter oyster plant, the technicolor specimen above is actually a fungus.