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Daisuke Tashiro

10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we dug up the scariest plants we could find across the world of botany. Read on… at your own risk.

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Red Spider Lily Takashi Hososhima
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Red Spider Lily

With dozens of long, curving stamens, thin petals, and vivid, visceral color, it’s easy to imagine the red spider lily (Lycoris radiata) decking out the scenery in a Guillermo del Toro film– especially since they have the macabre legends to boot. In the Buddhist tradition, the flowers of the Red Spider Lily are used to honor the dead (meaning you should never give them to the living). According to the Lotus Sutra, the plant grows in Hell, guiding the dead towards their next reincarnation. Some Japanese legends say that these flowers bloom when you encounter someone you will never see again.

goth orchid Andreana Bitsis
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Bat Flower

The bat flower (Tacca chantieri) is a type of orchid, with long, whisker-like strands, two ear-like petals, and an assortment of smaller, anatomical pieces in various shapes and sizes– the sum of which looks like something H.P. Lovecraft might have dreamed up. While the plant doesn’t particularly resemble its namesake, it does have a similar glistening, purple sheen about it, one that wouldn’t fail to look out of place in Dracula’s gothic garden.

japanese-blood-grass Gardening Solutions
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Japanese Blood Grass

The unnervingly colored, blade-like Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica) grows to between two and four feet, and is tipped in red. The ornamental grass itself isn’t especially sinister– it isn’t poisonous or dangerous to touch– but it is considered one of the ten worst weeds in the world because it’s so invasive, so much so as to be forbidden in certain parts of the United States. (To transport it, you need a permit.)

ghost-plant Ronald Levesque
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Ghost Plant

The rare ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora) has no chlorophyll (the chemical that allows flora to absorb energy from the sun), which typically gives most plants their green color. Its alternative to obtaining energy? Ghost plant is a parasite that feeds on trees (your move M. Night Shyamalan). In true karmic fashion, a ghost plant itself is actually edible– no doubt making ghosts everywhere jealous.

strangleweed Leonora Enking
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Strangleweed

The graphically-named strangleweed (which refers to a number of species in the Cuscuta genus) goes by several other, equally colorful titles: witch’s hair, devil’s ringlet, wizard’s net, hellbine, and devil’s guts. Characterized by thin, typically golden-yellow vines, the parasitic plant works itself around its host and inserts itself into the host’s vascular system, from which it then draws food to survive. Yikes.

devils-helmet Monkshood Lotus Johnson
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Devil’s Helmet

With a litany of nicknames– including wolf’s bane, Queen of All Poisons, women’s bane, blue rocket, and monkshood– devil’s helmet (a term used to refer to any plant belonging to the Aconitum genus) manages to live up to the hype of its name. The plant’s poison can be absorbed through small cuts in the skin, and even in small amounts can cause a slowing of the heart. In spite of its dangers, though, devil’s helmet is a popular ornamental and frequently grows in gardens (including, of course, England’s famous Poison Garden).

3324299100_1fc46bdefe_o Michael Lusk
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Doll’s Eye

The creepy, Stephen King-like Doll’s Eye (Actaea pachypoda) takes its name from the berries it grows, which are an unnerving, glistening white, with a single black mark, and which grow from vivid red stems. The entire plant is extremely toxic to humans, and when ingested can cause hallucinations– even a small touch to skin can cause blisters, so if you live in their native habitat of eastern and north America, be sure to keep your eye out for them. Where Doll’s Eye grow, the hills most certainly do have eyes.

devils-claw Ernest McGray Jr.
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Devil’s Claw

Sometimes known as wood spider, Devil’s Claw (the few varieties belonging to the Harpagophytum genus) looks like nothing so much as a giant, scraggly burr. In spite of its sinister name, Devil’s Claw is actually a popular medicine, effective for treating back pain and osteoarthritis, and commonly used in folk medicine against migraines and arthritis. A supplement form of the plant is widely available, but the root can also be brewed into a tea (so you can really get into the Halloween potion groove).

Corpse Flower U.S. Botanic Garden
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Corpse Flower

The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) made waves earlier this year when several specimens across the country bloomed all at once. The plant itself (besides its name) isn’t especially scary, but its smell is certainly enough to make you turn around and run. Scientists who have broken down the chemicals released by the corpse flower have found the scents of: rotting fish, B.O., sweaty socks, human feces, and flowers.

18122374003_ea893d714d_k Mark Robinson
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10 Spooky Plants, In Honor of Halloween

Deadly Nightshade

Suspected to have been the poison used by Claudius’s wife to murder her husband the emperor, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) has played many roles: medicine, cosmetic, poison. With a common name fit for a Victorian ghost story, deadly nightshade’s scientific name (“bella donna”) translates from Italian to “pretty woman,” a reference to the plant’s use for pupil dilation (once believed to make women more beautiful). The plant is considered one of the most toxic plants in the Eastern Hemisphere, which is why it is carefully regulated in the United States.

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