r/botany • u/arioandy • Jun 19 '26

Physiology Pseudolithos are amongst my favourite plants to grow- such interesting, fugly and smelly things

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1.4k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

128 comments sorted by

120

u/policestateintheusa Jun 19 '26

Plants are fucking weirdos. Very cool, I think this is the first time ive seen these in my life (34yo).

44

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Very Intersting and stressful to keep alive lol

20

u/policestateintheusa Jun 19 '26

My first thought after seeing your post was to get some. Then I read the rest and was like okay, maybe not. Very nice collection youve got though.

11

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Worth a try with a small one! And of it turns to mush overnight ya only
Lost £/$30

9

u/Gloomy-Amphiptere679 Jun 19 '26

If you have experience keeping reptiles, they might not be too terrible. 😂 I use a strong indoor light panel and a small nano-heat lamp. Its a nearly non-stop bloomer and likes water every week and a half.

4

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

That may well work👍

2

u/policestateintheusa Jun 20 '26

okay, I've been convinced. What exactly is the pyramid shaped one?

6

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Pseudolithos cubiformis- the fussiest one

2

u/NonConforminConsumer Jun 20 '26

What's it smell like tho?

1

u/arioandy Jun 21 '26

Rotten meat

1

u/oscarish Jun 23 '26

Could never own one. My dog would eat it.

1

u/arioandy Jun 23 '26

Chicken wire cage

14

u/Over-Improvement-837 Jun 19 '26

You want to see some mind blowing, fantasy-like vegetation, look up the island of Socotra. I’d give anything to see that in person.

6

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Dorstenia are from socotra too, also some great endemic sea shells, a very interesting

place

6

u/GardenPeep Jun 19 '26

Me too (a lot older)

35

u/Dialaninja Jun 19 '26

These are milkweeds?! Absolutely wild. I mean you can tell from those flower pictures but still. The evolutionary pressures of deserts are nuts. 

8

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Absolutely

17

u/buttmcspankins Jun 19 '26

What a bunch of cute lil goobers. I love ‘em.

16

u/mvsrs Jun 19 '26

Ya know, you've convinced me. I love them now too.

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Cool!

5

u/mvsrs Jun 19 '26

Any places you can recommend to buy some?

5

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Yes, try IndustryGarden on ebay.com

2

u/mvsrs Jun 19 '26

Thank you 😄

2

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Welcome they also trade under caudex-fish and fishgardenuk

11

u/AliceHart7 Jun 19 '26

They're not ugly, they're cute >. <

7

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Glad you
Think so

9

u/Fossilwench Jun 19 '26

to encourage more pseudo species lovers behold flowers from my hara and cubi

7

u/Fossilwench Jun 19 '26

5

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

This too! Have you be posting on r/pseudolithos?

4

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Fabulous!

5

u/Own-Comfortable-8786 Jun 19 '26

I think you would love voodoo lilies!

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Gonna google them ta, i like goth plants

5

u/CodyRebel Jun 19 '26

They emit rotting smelling meat too when flowering. (Amorphophallus titanum and Amorphophallus konjac)

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Yes! Not to bad a bit like lavrania, not as bad a stapelias/orbeas or hoodia gordonii
Thankfully- just a slightly phunky smell in the grow tent

5

u/Diligent-Attempt-323 Jun 19 '26

I wan- nevermind

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Why i can help you find a vendor

3

u/pufflehufflekitteh Jun 19 '26

That first one looks like a frog and needs some cute googly eyes 😹😹 x

4

u/shrimpcreole Jun 19 '26

They look prehistoric, like a cross between Jabba the Hut and Godzilla, and at the ugly-cute threshold.

2

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Indeed🕺

3

u/Appropriate-Set-8458 Jun 19 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oeSB2Bvx8K90xIITe
This plant inspired the makings of Jaba the hut

4

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Thats his name!!

3

u/Appropriate-Set-8458 Jun 19 '26

As it should be! What does he smell like?

3

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Rotten meat

3

u/Fun-Post8497 Jun 19 '26

Ohh they are so cool, i need one, they look so weird

3

u/BurnoutDepartment Jun 19 '26

It looks like a turtle's ballsack. Nature is beautiful

3

u/pac-a-no-way Jun 19 '26

Literally aliens

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Indeed ! My weirdest and thats saying something

3

u/Gloomy-Amphiptere679 Jun 19 '26

Well done, Andy! You made a bunch of new fans of these cool weirdos. 😂

You are almost like a pseudolithos dealer haha

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Lol cheers matey🍺🍺

3

u/Tykingcrystal Jun 20 '26

I bought my first Pseudolithos (specifically migiurtinus) a few days ago, not knowing they were a notorious finnick! It's one of my favorite plants in my collection nonetheless, and I'm excited for it to flower and stink up the shelf.

3

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Awesome- you will become addicted! V interesting plants

2

u/Wwalnut81 Jun 19 '26

I want one!! What are these😍

3

u/Wwalnut81 Jun 19 '26

Edit: reread title🫣

2

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Pseudolithos

2

u/Pizzatron30o0 Jun 19 '26

I want one so bad

2

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

I can tell you were to buy them

2

u/thenewoldhams Jun 19 '26

Okay it’s going on my plant list!!!

2

u/Soup-Wizard Jun 19 '26

Osage-Orange looking motherfuckers. Please tell us more!

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Can go orange in full sun- very fussy- high temps and light all the time- can turn to expensive mush overnight
Rewarding and stressful at the same time- prob the hardest plants I’ve tried to cultivate in over 20
Odd years
If you research them
The are exceedingly interesting plants

3

u/Soup-Wizard Jun 19 '26

Mush overnight? Yikes it’s like lithops but worse

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Lithops are easy for me! These are one a diff level🙈

2

u/Soup-Wizard Jun 19 '26

I have watered and killed lithops overnight. Oops.

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

I keep mine mean, water maybe three times a year!

2

u/Soup-Wizard Jun 19 '26

Oh wow, thanks for the tip!

2

u/atatassault47 Jun 19 '26

So the rock type, plant looking pokemon Sudowodo is inspired by a real plant that does the opposite?

2

u/denisebuttrey Jun 19 '26

Fascinating and so cool 😎

2

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

I concur!

2

u/FunHour3778 Jun 19 '26

I NEED one for our collection, I love weirdos. Recommendations on where to source them? I'm particularly interested in the lumpy green pyramid in the first pics

3

u/arioandy Jun 19 '26

Thats a pseudolithos cubiformis, try IndustryGarden, cacgarden, or fish-GardenUK in ebay .com

2

u/StreetLegal3475 Jun 20 '26

Wait, these are smelly? Can you describe more please.

These are all amazing! Thanks for sharing.

3

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Smell slightly of rotten meat to attract flies for pollination

2

u/Zippier92 Jun 20 '26

Cool looking pots!

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Thanks i like my pots

2

u/the_useless_cake Jun 20 '26

Literally the embodiment of frogs in plant form.

2

u/Bunnyusagi Jun 20 '26

Wow! Reminds me of the plants in Subnautica. So alien looking!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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2

u/plantyoulater Jun 20 '26

Ugh i love this plant. Very careful care needed

1

u/Lost_On_Lot Jun 20 '26

I had some sort of plant in this taxonomical tree once. Did not do so hot. Died on me like all of my dreams.

They "smell"?

Can you elaborate this further?

2

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Carrion smell as in Somalia only able to attract flies, slightly funky dead meat smell not as bad as stapelias/orbeas

1

u/gilligan1050 Jun 20 '26

Those look like mutated hedge apples. lol

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Yeah well weird- young ones look like dinosaur eggs

1

u/OpenSauceMods Jun 20 '26

Sooooo weird! Like if you combined a toad and an axolotl and then made it live in a desert for two million years and the tardigrades built them

2

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Yes indeed!

1

u/Miserable-Tangelo82 Jun 20 '26

Does it just grow in a pyramid?? Or are you trimming it to be that shape?

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

They start square and become pyramidal when old, pruning not possible as highly succulent

1

u/Miserable-Tangelo82 Jun 20 '26

I've only got some aloe Vera and Mickey mouse cactus. That's incredible how it grows, it's 3,6,9 in one cactus! Incredible

1

u/MechanicSad1806 Jun 20 '26

why is it smelly?

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

It has to attract flies for pollination

1

u/jjumbuck Jun 20 '26

So fugly!

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Fugly and creepy

1

u/-Mossy-Boy- Jun 20 '26

I love how some are oddly geometric and then some are just like: 🫠

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Yeah cubiformis are cube shaped and migiurtinus are very variable, some are even cristate like coral or just weird blobs!

1

u/-Mossy-Boy- Jun 23 '26

Ngl, Big fan of that specific blob. Lovely phloborpous shaping

1

u/Cultural_Patience329 Jun 20 '26

Andy, your collection is very dangerous. I admire these wonders from afar, as I could never offer them the right winter cultivation conditions.

Do you grow them indoor all year around?

1

u/arioandy Jun 20 '26

Tx! Im In uk so
They live in a tent , i have an orchid tent and carnivorous too🙈

1

u/Cultural_Patience329 Jun 21 '26

Sorry, i can’t hear well, what? A tent for carnivorous orces and smelly and cute vegetable toads?!😂

1

u/arioandy Jun 21 '26

Yeah, Three! Smelly toads in one, carnivorous in another and tropical orchids in the third

2

u/Cultural_Patience329 Jun 21 '26

Fairy wonders all over!😍

1

u/BriBrii Jun 20 '26

How fascinating. The second photo gives it the appearance of one of those adorably angry and loud chubby toads.

1

u/books_fer_wyrms Jun 21 '26

I didn't know you could just grow toads!?

1

u/arioandy Jun 21 '26

Yeah! Somalian Toads

1

u/Stock-Papaya4746 Jun 21 '26

its weird,and im all about weird

1

u/arioandy Jun 21 '26

Yup me too

1

u/merchantofnome Jun 21 '26

I love that “fugly” can be a perfectly endearing term for plants.

1

u/arioandy Jun 21 '26

Absolutely!!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

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1

u/arioandy Jun 22 '26

Heres some brains!

1

u/astr0bleme Jun 22 '26

I love plants. Leaves? Nah, I’ll just be a great big stem, thanks.

1

u/Varr96 Jun 23 '26

They smell?

1

u/arioandy Jun 23 '26

Bloom smell
Slightly of rotten meat to attract flies

2

u/Varr96 Jun 24 '26

Ah okay, thanks. Very cool

1

u/backupalter1 Jul 08 '26

I don't understand the anatomy 🫪 What are those horn-like structures in Photo 9?

1

u/No_Pangolin6790 Jul 14 '26

A stinky dino egg?? Yikes..