THE 'HOOKER'S LIPS' PLANT

Image credit - www.odditycentral.com

Looking like it should be on the cover of a Rolling Stones album, the Hooker's Lips plant - Psychotria elata is a genuine flowering plant and definitely not a random, photo-shopped image designed to fool innocent web surfers.

Hooker's Lips true flowers - image credit www.amusingplanet.com

Native to the tropical forests in places such as Costa Rica and Colombia, the Hooker's Lips plant is a small tree that uses its vibrant, red flowers to attract insect pollinators, but more specifically hummingbirds.

Relatively little is known about the Hooker's lips plants, although its habitat is usually found at an elevation of 400 meters and growing in damp soils that can be prone to waterlogging.

Unfortunately this extraordinary plant has become endangered due to the uncontrolled deforestation in its native homelands.

The 'lips' are not the plants true flowers, they are in fact modified leaves known as bracts.

Sadly, these bracts are only kissable for a short while, before they spread open to reveal the plant’s real flowers.

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