When October arrives, it’s fun to get cozy with freshly picked apples, pumpkin spice-flavored everything, and a good-old-fashioned scare. Since we love everything floral, at Boyd’s Flowers in Wilmington, we get into the October spirit with some gruesomely spooky flowers from around the world. Join us for some frightful fun and take a look at this list of the most frightening flowers on Earth that you definitely wouldn’t want to use in a floral arrangement.
Top 3 Spooky Flowers to Celebrate This Halloween
Stinking Corpse Lily
Native to the island of Sumatra, this flower actually grows more like a parasitic fungus, than a normal flower. The plant has no roots, leaves, or stems. Before it blooms, it’s completely confined to living within the vines of the host plants it feeds off of. Once it’s about ready to bloom, a bud emerges outside of the host vines, which then develops over the course of about a year.
The largest single flower in the world, this monster’s bloom can grow up to almost three-and-a-half feet in diameter! Not only is it scarily large, but it also emits a pungent, rancid odor that’s often described as rotting fish. This odor’s designed to attract flies and beetles in an attempt for successful pollination.
Titan Arum
Another plant native to Sumatra makes our list, the titan arum. The word titan means giant in Greek, and this plant, which sprouts groups of flowers, is truly ginormous! The beastly titan arum can grow up to 20 feet tall and 16 feet across.
Like the stinking corpse lily, you’ll also smell titan arum before you see it. Apart from its immense size, this plant is famous for its notorious stench. Tests that analyzed the chemical compounds responsible for its stink found aromatic qualities similar to those of rotting fish, sweaty socks, feces, Limburger cheese, Chloraseptic, and a slight trace of a sweet floral aroma. All of this comes together to create a stomach-turning bouquet.
Titan arum’s stinking blooms, however, are quite rare. The plant only flowers once it’s reached between seven and ten years of age. Then, subsequent blooms might only occur once a decade or once every few years.
Hydnora Africana
Native to southern Africa, the Hydnora Africana is one of many subterranean plants, meaning it lives underground like so many other creepy crawlies. Parasitic, the plant lives off nutrients stolen from the roots of nearby plants. The Hydnora Africana’s blooms emerge from the soil, looking more like angry monster mouths than actual flowers. In fact, these scary plants are thought to have inspired the potted plant character in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Truly horrific, these flowers reek of feces that attracts dung beetles, they’re preferred pollinators. When a beetle wanders into one of these flowers, it snaps shut, temporarily trapping the unsuspecting insect, forcing it to pick up enough pollen for successful pollination.
Enjoy Less Fright and More Fun with These Flowers
You don’t have to order in rare flowers that smell even rarer to celebrate October. Style more traditional, pleasant-smelling floral arrangements with a festive edge. Baskets of yellow, orange, and burgundy potted chrysanthemums add warmth and seasonal cheer to any house or front porch display. Sunflowers arranged around a cute scarecrow will help you hold onto the last bit of pre-winter sunshine. Or, pick up one of our festive seasonal bouquets such as Pumpkin Patch or Autumn Wonder.
Pumpkin Patch
Autumn Wonder
If you’re looking for something with a little more Halloween to it, go for arrangements of black roses and skeletal snapdragon seed pods. Tie everything off with festive ribbons featuring holiday prints, patterns, and colors.
Flower-Out Your October at Boyd’s Flowers
At Boyd’s Flowers, we have all the seasonal favorites in colors perfect for Halloween! We welcome you to drop by the flower shop or give us a call. We’ll help you select the perfect arrangements for a pleasant, fun, and festive October.
