This plant hides creepy suckers under flashy flowers

摘要

Doorknobs in skirts. Microphones in tutus. There are lots of ways to describe Langsdorffia flowers, but parasitic-plant specialist Chris Thorogood says they "absolutely look to me like deep-sea creatures." Whatever you compare them to, the flowers are intricate, screaming-red showpieces. That's the total opposite of the unshowy rest of the plant. It has no leaves, just grayish, ropelike tissue that probes through soil and ranks in looks somewhere between blah and dried-up dog droppings.