Plants in
Costume
Meet the Plants That Inspired our Halloween Costume Contest.
Some plants don鈥檛 need Halloween to dress up鈥攖hey wear their costumes all year long. From clever disguises to dramatic flair, these Garden show-offs inspired us to host a 鈥淧lant Costume Contest.鈥 Watch the video to find out the winner.
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
鈥淎 Bird鈥
This flower resembles a bird鈥檚 head and makes a sturdy, inviting perch for birds to land, sip nectar, and transfer pollen.
Chenille Plant (Acalypha hispida)
鈥淎 1920鈥檚 Flapper鈥
The female members of this plant grow these flashy feather boa-like flowers, which contain the flower pistils but do not produce pollen like their male counterparts.
Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia)
鈥淎 Piece of Meat鈥
The coloration and veining on the leaves of this carnivorous plant resemble dead meat to fool insects and other small animals into the trap.
Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)
鈥淐ousin Itt鈥 from The Addams Family
The 鈥渉airs鈥 on this cactus provide shade and help the plant conserve water in the desert.
Croton (Codiaeum variegatum)
鈥淎 Modern Art Masterpiece鈥
The coloration on the croton are the very same pigments we see in autumn leaves: green chlorophyll, yellow xanthophyll, orange carotene, and red anthocyanin.
Living Stone (Lithops)
鈥淎 Stone鈥
Native to countries in the southern part of Africa, living stones are succulents that blend in with the rocky soil, so thirsty animals don鈥檛 see them.