Unseen trees in our planet Earth

Imagine waking up on the Socotra Island and taking a good look around you (let’s say your buddies pulled a prank on you and delivered you there.After a yelp of disbelief, you’d be inclined to think you were transported to another planet - or traveled to another era of Earth’s history.

The branches spread out into the sky and from below appear to hover over the landscape like so many flying saucers… and from above they have a distinct mushroom look.

Dorstenia gigas - apparently does not require any soil and sinks roots straight into the bare rock.

Also found in Socotra’s landscape is the ever-strange and extremely rare Cucumber Tree (dendrosicyos socotranum) - and yes, it’s related to what’s sitting in a pickle jar in your fridge.

Somewhat similar to the weird Dorstenia gigas, is this “bucha” vegetable, found as far north as Croatia.

We covered some otherwordly places before (see, for example, Bolivian Salt Lake, or The Richat Structure), but this island simply blows away any notion about what is considered “normal” for a landscape on Earth.

Posted in: Wildlife