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Taking nothing away from the ferns, flowers and firs in your locale, but consider studying something more exotic. Bogleech.com presents Five of the World’s Weirdest Plants. It’s not just a list of obscure carnivorous plants –  bird or insect feces plays a big part of in the diets of Nepenthes lowii and the Roridula, respectively. If you’re not totally disgusted yet, have a look at the Rafflesia arnoldii (pictured), the “corpse flower.” The largest flower on earth, it grows as a parasite within the vines of another plant. Also, don’t expect to find its fragrance in a perfume bottle, unless you want to smell like a George Romero movie.

The middle of winter is a tough time to study plants, so you’ll have to go online anyway if you want your students to look at flora. Okay, so you could buy a potted plant instead, but do you really think you’ll find any plants as interesting as these weirdos? Then again, after you take a look at them, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. -BILL FERRIS

Five of the World’s Weirdest Plants via Bogleech.com

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