Koki’o (Kokai cookei)

Koki’o (Kokai cookei)

Another rare flower comes from a tree in Hawaii.  Discovered in 1860, the Koki’o tree has proven difficult to propagate and, in 1950, was deemed extinct.  However, 20 years later a sole survivor was found, but was destroyed in a fire in 1978.  As luck would have it, one of the branches was saved and grafted into 23 different trees in various places in Hawaii.  The tree grows to 10-11 meters high and has hundreds of bright, red flowers that mature trees produce annually.  As a flower so willing to adapt, the Koki’o flower comes in at number .

Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)

Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus)

You may have seen Chocolate orchids, but have you ever seen or gotten a whiff of Chocolate Cosmos?  It is a flower native to Mexico that has been extinct in the wild for over 100 years.  Still, the species survives as a single, non-fertile clone created in 1902 by propagation.  The flowers are a rich deep-brown color and grow to about 3-4 cm in diameter.  As the name suggests, Chocolate Cosmos emit a delicious vanillin fragrance in the summer (also found in vanilla beans, some coffee beans and some cocoa beans).  For being so rare and almost sweet enough to eat, the Chocolate Cosmos comes in at number 

Parrot’s Beak (Lotus berthelotii)

Parrot’s Beak (Lotus berthelotii)

Classified as exceedingly rare since 1884, the Parrot’s Beak flower is believed to be extinct in the wild, though some individuals believe it may still be alive.  The plant is native to the Canary Islands and is believed to have been originally pollinated by sunbirds which have long gone extinct.  Experiments have been done to see if the flowers could have found new pollinators but, as of 2008, none of these experiments have been successful.  For all the efforts made to take this one back home, the Parrot’s Beak flower makes number 8 on our list of the rarest flowers.

The Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

The Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

The Jade Vine, known for its spectacular blue-green, claw-shaped flowers, produces a hanging inflorescence of color seldom seen in any other flower.  The flower is pollinated by bats which will hang upside down to drink the nectar.  These rare flowers are now hardly seen in the wild and are believed to be threatened by the deforestation of their natural habitat in the Philippines.  For its beauty to botanists and bats alike, the Jade Vine comes in at number.

Campion (Silene tomentosa)

Campion (Silene tomentosa)

Only found in Gibraltar, the Campion was once thought to be extinct by the scientific community in 1992, when all traces of the plant vanished.  Then in 1994, a single specimen was discovered by a climber hiking on the high cliffs of Gibraltar.  It was propagated at the Millennium Seed Bank and specimens are now grown at the Almeda Gibraltar Botanic Gardens, as well as at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London.  For hanging in there on the solitary cliffs of Gibraltar waiting to be found, the Campion flower comes in at number.

Amorphophallus titanum

Amorphophallus titanum


Amorphophallus titanum(or titan arum). One of the most spectacular plants to be found in the wet tropics zone of the Princess of Wales Conservatory is the titan arum. With its huge flowering structure (inflorescence) rising up to 3m above the ground and its single immense leaf, it certainly is a giant among plants, as its name suggests. Coupled with its characteristic foul stench, and the rarity of flowerings, this plant has always hit the headlines