Top 15 STRANGE Trees you Didn't Know Existed

Nature has gone seriously haywire these trees look nothing like anything you've seen before hidden away in the forests of Earth here are the top 15 rarest trees ever discovered number 15 rainbow eucalyptus the rainbow eucalyptus is a magnificently colored tree that's native to the rainforests of the Philippines Indonesia and Papua New Guinea but because of the species unbelievable trunk they're grown in warm climates around the world they are fast-growing and can reach a height of up to 250 feet but it's the unique way in which the bark sheds that makes them so special it's orange tinted at first but breaks off and strips to reveal the vivid colors that are hidden beneath hues range from pale green and reds and oranges to gray purple yellow and brown the reason why this happens is that the bark is shed at different times so the inner bark which changes color as it ages is uncovered at varying stages of its life cycle with the almost random splattering zuv shades no two trees are alike and they look like they've been created in an artist studio number fourteen blue Jacaranda the blue Jacaranda is a stunning species of tree that's native to South America but has become popular ornamental tree around the world and can grow anywhere that it won't be covered in frost reaching a maximum height of around 66 feet they have a grayish brown bark with light reddish brown branches it's during the flowering season that blue jacarandas truly come into their own when they produce large canopies of long lasting indigo petals Pretoria in South Africa has become known as the Jacaranda City thanks to an estimated 70,000 trees that have been planted throughout the streets gardens and parks from September to November every year it's covered in a sea of purple in what is one of the most stunning horticultural displays you'll see anywhere in the world and with her team banyan trees Bennion trees are a type of fig tree that instead of growing in the ground on their own aren't epiphyte which means the seeds germinate within the cracks or grooves of a host tree soon though the branches and roots of the banyan completely take over the whole tree dies off and in many cases its trunks and roots completely fall away this often leaves a hollow central trunk where it has grown around the host but the banyan trees often grow far larger than the ones they leech off in the first place the great banyan in India for example is more than 250 years old and has a 1080 foot road that was built around its perimeter but is now covered in its new growth with such a complicated network of branches and drooping vines bunions are a wonder to the whole there's nothing quite like walking beneath the canopy number 12 dragon's blood tree the yemeni island of Socotra is home to some of the most unusual plant and animal life in the world but the most famous thing to grow there is the dragon's blood tree looking almost like an umbrella with a street trunk that grows upward facing branches that divide into two a number of times and with foliage that only grows facing the sky this species has become an integral part of local folklore thanks to its deep crimson sap which looks just like thick losing blood the berries too are covered in this sticky substance and perhaps it's no wonder that local legend speaks of how they were used to trap the deadly dragons that once supposedly roamed the land the sap has been sought-after for hundreds of years for use in manufacturing because of its color and chemical makeup and is popular for garnishing violins dyeing wool and for the production of glue as well as being a common ingredient in homeopathic medicines used to treat a range of ailments number eleven Joshua trees the strange-looking Joshua tree is a species that's endemic to the southwestern US and states like California Arizona Utah and Nevada it's a type of yucca that's adapted to grow quickly in desert environments and while the largest ones become up to 50 feet tall they can have root networks that stretch 36 feet down beneath the surface in search of water to conserve the limited resources they have access to Joshua trees don't grow very many leaves with just a few balls at the edges that face upwards towards the Sun for photosynthesis they've long been associated with the Mojave Desert and that's where their name comes from according to legend a group of Mormon settlers was crossing the desert in the 1800s and because of the way the trees helped them to and the unusual shapes that they grew it reminded the travelers of a story from the Bible where Joshua helped guide the Israelites with his hands reached out towards them number 10 Japanese maple the Japanese maple is a stunning species of Acer that's native to Asia and has been cultivated in Japan for centuries they're known for the wide variety of leaf shapes and colors that they can take on and are a popular choice for bonsai growers and are depicted in numerous historical artworks the trees usually grow to between 25 and 50 feet tall and sometimes have several trunks that only join very close to the ground even in nature the species show great variation so now that botanists have learned how to prioritize certain traits there are thought to be more than a thousand different cultivars they are mostly famous thought of as having deep purple red or pink leaves but there are varieties with even green yellow or even white blue leaves - as one of the most popular ornamental trees throughout the world and relatively easy to grow the chances are you'll never be too far away from one and in all likelihood you won't have seen its particular color and leaf shape ever before number nine Kapaun tree trees grow seed pods that are specifically designed to attract animals that when they eat or rub up against them they're either ingested or becomes stuck to the animals body and can be deposited elsewhere it's important though that only the right kind of animals take the seeds soaked up octrees have developed an unusual defensive measure they're native to the northern regions of South America and West Africa where they're often seen growing as high as 250 feet their trunks above the buttress roots can be between 10 and 20 feet thick and the seeds covered in cotton white fluff grow on the upper branches this is so they can easily attach to bats that rest on them but to prevent other animals from climbing up the trunks of these trees are covered in sharp thorns this also protects the trees from suffering damage from creatures tearing at the bark and is one of the reasons why this species is able to grow so tall there's some of the largest you'll see in the Amazon basin and our a vital part to the local economy thanks to the cotton that grows around the seeds they also form an important part of local folklore where they're believed to have been used to imprison the demon of death and that the spikes act as a warning to prevent people from releasing him before we move on be sure to subscribe to top 5s with notifications on Murray Bristlecone pine Bristlecone pine trees are extremely resilient and long-lasting with one specimen thought to be at least 5,000 years old which makes it the oldest known living organism on earth they don't grow up particularly well in regions where other plants thrive but are perfectly suited to taking hold where nothing else will such as on rocky terrain and in places with very little rainfall from throughout the US the trunks and branches take on an unusually twisted and curved shape which happens because quite often most of the material is dead and there are only small strands that are providing nutrients to where the growth is taking place there are several so-called ancient forests which are made up of almost exclusively of one of the three Bristlecone pine species but there are now increasing concerns that rising temperatures in the regions may stunt the growth of these majestic trees and conservation efforts are underway to protect them for the future number 7 spider trees in 2010 severe flooding across Pakistan meant that the lives of more than 20 million people were affected but it also had a consequence for the wildlife in the region and some began behaving very strangely hundreds of millions of spiders had no choice but to climb up trees to escape the rising waters and it took so long for them to recede but the spiders began to build their webs in their new surroundings this led to the startling sight of trees being completely surrounded by a thick tangle of webbing almost like something you'd expect to see on an alien world rather than here if the thought of so many arachnids swarming all over the trees is too much to handle it was a positive side effect of this phenomena - in the areas where it happened far fewer cases of malaria were being reported than would be expected especially with all the stagnant water which would suggest that the mosquitoes were falling victim to these giant traps number six tibetan cherry tree the tibetan cherry tree is a small species that are native to western china but has become popular around the world for its very unusual bark growing up to thirty feet tall they usually grow a number of different stems and pinkish white flowers that grow in clusters they slowly turn to a golden yellow and fall when the fruits grow and then fall away in winter to fully reveal what's hidden beneath the bark though is remarkably smooth and shiny and takes on a deep coppery red color it's incredible though with similar strengths to industrial packing material and to allow the efficient exchange of gases with the atmosphere they become marked with a series of horizontal lenticels they retain this appearance throughout the year so they're often used in gardens to ensure there's always a splattering of color across the seasons number five jujube tree found only in the desert regions of the Baja California peninsula and Sonora Mexico the Boojum tree is a highly peculiar species of plant that's perfectly adapted to the harsh terrain where it grows growing up to 70 feet tall it's often said to resemble an upside-down carrot and is covered in spiny twigs that grow yellow flowers that emit a wonderful honey scent that attracts insects named after a Lewis Carroll poem the local Surry people have instead referred to these trees as the Coto tax they believe that if you were to touch one it would cause powerful winds to blow against you so were actively avoided when they were traveling through the desert the distribution of the mudram trees throughout the region on the Mexican mainland and the way that they're only found in this specific area remains somewhat of a mystery however it's thought by botanist that the only way this is possible is that they were transplanted here from the peninsula but who did it and for what reason is not yet clear number four bail Bob tree baobab trees which are often called upside down trees are native to Madagascar mainland Africa and Australia there are actually nine different species each of which are very similar despite growing on continents that were separated more than 100 million years ago reaching a height of up to a hundred feet they're known for their enormous ly thick trunks that usually can be as much as thirty six feet wide but one particularly enormous specimen was measured as having a circumference of a whopping 154 feet it's not easy to determine the age of a baobab in comparison to other tree's because their growth rings are very faint and often fade away as they grow older but some specimens have been radiocarbon dated after they died and were found to have germinated at least 2,000 years ago the reason I have such large trunks is that they can store enough water in them to survive extended periods of drought it's estimated that in preparation for the seasonal arid conditions they'll star up to 32,000 gallons which historically would have been plenty to see them through recent changes in the climate have however seen a number of the older Bale Bob's dying in the past two decades because of the dry seasons have begun to last longer and they're seen as becoming dehydrated to the point where they can't support their own weight and collapse onto themselves unfortunately there's now concern about whether they'll be able to ever grow to such sizes again especially in the regions where they're traditionally been found so it's entirely possible that within the near future will no longer be able to see these majestic trees towering over the landscape number three flamboyant tree flamboyant trees which you might also known as flame trees or Royal Poinciana our species that's native to Madagascar but are now a highly sought-after ornamental tree that can be seen adorning streets and backyards around the world due to deforestation and climate change in their natural environment they're actually now considered to be endangered in the wild because they flourish in subtropical regions they're considered to be a naturalized plant in most places where they're grown the trees have intricate fern like leaves but it's their flowers that give them their unrivaled aesthetics they have for spreading petals and a fifth that grows upward each of which are deep scarlet or orangey red and there's a rare variety that has yellow pedals instead each of these pedals can be up to 3 inches long so it doesn't take many to create a large canopy of color so it's no surprise they're seen as a great decorative species since being transported around the world the blossom of the flamboyant tree has become the national flower of saint kitts and nevis and it's the official tree of Key West in Florida and of the sipping district in Malaysia there's also the belief by st. Thomas Christians that there was a small Royal Poinciana growing near where Jesus was crucified on a cross and that his blood dripped down onto it and this is why the pedals have such a vivid red color to them number two jaboticaba tree when you're thinking of where fruits normally grow on a tree you imagine them emerging from the branches but there's one species that bucks this trend the jabuticaba tree they're native to several states in Mexico and have close relations to the rest of South America and are famed for their purple colored fruits that look a lot like grapes and grow directly on their trunks it's a very slow growing species of tree which at first have pink leaves which turned to green as they reach maturity they tend to grow around 50 feet tall and will sprout white flowers and the trunks that are then followed by the fruits when growing naturally there lay our fruit once or twice a year but when they're being cultivated this process can be continuous because of the relative stability of the climate in the region which means the fruits are available all year round the fruits themselves are about one and a half inches in diameter and have a thick skin with four seeds inside the flesh is white or pink it has a sweet taste to it and they're often seen in markets across the continent they don't have a very long shelf life though so are turned into jams wines and liquors for export to further away places and because it takes new trees as long as ten years to reach the stage where they produce fruit it's proved to be very difficult to cultivate them elsewhere to serve local markets it's therefore rare to see fresh fruit for sale anywhere that isn't close to by where their trees are cultivated but with the jaboticaba part of the fun is about where the fruits actually grow and it wouldn't be the same if you didn't see them in their natural environment number one Sakura blossom tree the Sakura blossom tree also known as the Japanese cherry tree is such a stunning plant that it's become entwined with Japanese tradition for hundreds of years there are more than 200 different cultivars in Japan alone some of which grow in edible fruit and some that produced small cherries but it's not the fruit that they're renowned for though because when they bloom in the spring they create a stunning display of blossom growing up to 40 feet tall the blossoms are seen in Japan as a representation of the clouds and are a metaphor for the transient nature of life a tradition called hanami which began in the Nara period about 1300 years ago for the elite in society but over the centuries was regularly enjoyed by all members of society calls for people to sit beneath the cherry blossom to eat and drink sake the people in Japan are so excited for the bloom each year that the National Meteorological Agency follows the Sakura's ensign with a cherry blossom front as it moves northward so people know when they can expect their trees to blossom so they can organize flower viewing parties at their homes local parks and temples subscribe to top 5s for more and check out some of our other popular videos [Music] [Music]

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 1,381,082

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Keywords: Shake The Mango Tree, Cutting Down Biggest Tree, strange trees, biggest trees, CREEPIEST Trees in the World, amazing trees

Id: sBnx0SRHpKs

Length: 16min 3sec (963 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2020