Rarest Flowers in the World

Some flowers show up in spades – in grocery stores and garden centers around the world. Commercial flowers, like mums and petunias, tend to be too bland for more advanced gardeners. Inquiring minds naturally gravitate towards stranger fare, including the wildly bizarre bat flower. 

Even among flower enthusiasts, these oddities are often unheard of. Many of these rare flowers, confined to exotic locales, are seldom seen within a lifetime. Others face the threat of extinction due to overzealous harvesting. 

This article explores some of the world’s rarest flowers that you’ve never seen. 

 

1. Himalayan Blue Poppy 

At first glance, blooms of this poppy appear to be manufactured – a startling sky blue. Once thought to be myth, the Himalayan blue poppy was first discovered in China by a French Catholic missionary. It seldom flourishes outside its native habitat, with exacting soil requirements that can be mimicked with one part compost or well-rotted manure, one part fine bark mulch.

2. Weeping Yoshino Flowering Cherry

Although not extremely rare, the weeping Yoshino flowering cherry is unusual among the standard tree cultivars. Combining the languid gracefulness of willows and the whimsical blooms of cherry trees, it is perfect for Zen gardens, where Asian specimen plantings dominate. This tree is low maintenance and does well in drought conditions. 

3. Blue Puya 

Dyed blue flowers appear garish when compared to the ‘sapphire towers’ of the blue puya flowers – few would have believed it shares its heritage with the common pineapple. Hailing from the remote mountain ranges of the Andes, this marvelous bromeliad has been theorized to be a “protocarnivorous” plant, meaning that it can potentially ensnare insects but cannot digest them. Blue puya blooms infrequently, sometimes once in decades, giving lucky witnesses a spire of turquoise flowers. 

4. Night-Blooming Cereus 

Night blooming Cereus refers to a group of cacti that bloom ephemerally, usually only for a single night. Its petals and luminous, moonlit color have earned it the name “Queen of the Night.” While it’s unlikely that you will be able to make a trek to its native habitat in Central America, it can be viewed at botanical gardens and private collections.

5.  Fire Lily 

Like a phoenix, the poetically named fire lily rises from the ashes borne of wildfires in the Cape Fold Mountains. Rising from the detritus, its flame-red flowers emerge two weeks after a fire as a reminder that even beauty can be gleaned from catastrophe. Do not confuse it with the flame lily (Gloriosa superba), which is highly toxic. 

6. Hooker’s Lips 

We don’t want you to get the wrong idea: despite this flower’s resemblance to a lipsticked, puckered mouth, it’s actually named in honor of Sir William Jackson Hooker, first director of London’s famed Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Its crimson “lips” serve more purpose than being used as trinkets for Valentine’s Day – they attract insects like the elusive golden silk moth. Sadly, it is now facing serious decline due to deforestation. 

7. Jade Vine 

With an alien, claw-like appearance that could have stunned an emperor, the Jade vine dangles pendulously from forests in the Philippines. Even rarer in cultivation, it is not exactly the color of jade, but a fluorescent aquamarine color. Under the cover of night, its primary pollinators, bats, are attracted to its luminescent flowers. Regrettably, deforestation has pushed it into the endangered species list. 

8. Middlemist’s Red Camellia

One plant, Middlemist’s red camellia, is even rarer than diamonds. Only two known specimens exist – a garden in New Zealand and a greenhouse in the UK – after it was wiped out from its native China. Cuttings are extremely rare and privy only to the ultra-wealthy, if that. The petals are a deep red, almost like a rose, with a geometric appearance. 

9. Belin Sweet Pea     

Turkey is home to a surprising number of endemic plants, including the Belin sweet pea – an unusual orange-yellow pea variety thought to have been found near the village of Belin. Among its winding roads lies a mosaic of landscapes, ranging from rock outcroppings to flat shrubland. Bulldozing is to blame for the plant’s dwindling number, reducing it from 5,000 to 1,000.

10. Black Bat Flower

Bat flowers, a rare species of orchids that are difficult to cultivate from seed, appear like something from a Lovecraft novel. They’re flanked by long, whiskered strands that dangle from glistening black petals, flaring out like the hood of a cobra. Its cousin, the white bat flower, is no less unnerving. Its growing conditions are very specific, making cultivation difficult. 

11. Youtan Poluo

Confusion surrounding this flower has culminated in some believing it to be a holy hoax; this enigmatic flower largely resides within the realm of the supernatural. Said in Buddhist scripture to bloom only once in 3,000 years to herald the arrival of a sage king, it is described as a tiny parasitic flower pale white in color. Reports of it blooming on inanimate surfaces like wood or steel have led some to suspect that its true identity is, in fact, lacewing eggs. 

12. Darwin’s Slippers

Eponymously named by Charles Darwin in his voyage around South America, a gaggle of those strangely shaped flowers presents a humorous sight, evoking comparisons from slippers to minions with their mouths open. They are pollinated by birds eating the white part of its mouth. Counterfeit seeds are common, restricting the plant largely to serious collectors.