17 Flowers and Plant Forms That Resemble Familiar Figures

Once you see a little face in a flower, it can be surprisingly difficult to unsee it. Orchids become dancers, white petals become wings and a red plant structure seems to be preparing for a kiss. Part of the pleasure is botanical; part is the human habit of recognising familiar patterns.

Enjoy the resemblance, then look again. The second look is where a funny picture becomes a small lesson about plants.

Orchids that suggest faces, birds and figures

Dracula orchids include species such as Dracula simia whose flowers can suggest a monkey’s face. The common name is an invitation to notice the shape, not evidence that the plant evolved to imitate a primate.

Orchis italica, often called the naked man orchid, produces flowers that resemble tiny figures. The white egret flower has finely divided white forms that bring a bird’s wings to mind. In the bird of paradise, Strelitzia reginae, the flowering structure suggests a bright crest.

Kew’s guide to plants that resemble other things offers named examples and a useful distinction: some resemblances, including those of certain Ophrys orchids to insect pollinators, connect with pollination biology. Others are associations made by the observer.

Flowers, bracts and seed capsules

The red “lips” of the plant commonly known as hot lips are bracts—modified leaves—rather than the flowers themselves. Our guide to the hot lips plant takes a closer look at that difference and its botanical naming.

Seed capsules create another source of confusion. A dried structure that looks like a skull is a different stage in a plant’s life from an open blossom. A good caption should tell you which part you are looking at, rather than calling every unusual form a flower.

Looking beyond a garden plant’s nickname

Choose three plants and spend a few minutes with each. Read the label, look at the whole plant and then study the detail that caught your attention. If a name has changed, the garden’s collection information may help explain the older name used in a viral image.

Take a picture of the label as well as the flower. It is a simple way to avoid returning home with an impressive close-up and no idea what it shows. Keep to paths and avoid touching or moving delicate parts to create a better pose.

Questions to take into the next garden

What is attracting a pollinator? Which part is actually reproductive? Does the shape look the same from the side? Questions like these make even a familiar garden feel new.

For a destination where flowers become a major part of the visit, explore Ashikaga Flower Park. Whether the subject is a tiny orchid or a sweeping display, knowing what you are seeing adds another layer of enjoyment.

How the viewing angle changes a resemblance

The collection ranges from monkey-face and moth orchids to the flying duck, dove and white egret comparisons. It also includes the dancing-girls and parrot-flower images, the enclosed form nicknamed swaddled babies, and a slipper-like flower described as a happy alien. The variety is part of the fun: sometimes the resemblance depends on an entire outline, while elsewhere a small central marking does most of the work. The tiger and ballerina names describe a visual resemblance; the plant species in those two images are not confirmed.

Try looking at a favourite example with its nickname covered. Which feature catches your eye first, and does it still suggest the same figure? Then compare the side view, if the gallery supplies one. A resemblance can depend strongly on orientation, lighting and the photographer’s framing. That makes the pictures a lesson in observation as well as botany. Keep the distinction between a flower, a surrounding bract and a dried seed capsule in mind: the collection contains more than one plant structure, even when the humorous captions make them sound equivalent.