Here are some of the most unique shaped succulents for your collection of spectacular structures, and colorful plants!
While all succulents are special in their own way due to their unusual shapes, varieties, and colors. However, here we have listed out some of the most rare and extraordinary ones. If you love collecting unique shaped succulents then this list is just for you!
Unique Shape Succulents
1. Cube Plant
Botanical Name: Pseudolithos cubiformis
Almost looks like a perfect cube! The Cube plant is a small succulent that you might even misidentify as a piece of granite because of its cubic shape. Additionally, it is quite variable in shape, color, and size depending on the weather conditions.
2. Twisted Trachyandra
Botanical Name: Trachyandra tortilis
Straight from South Africa and Madagascar, this rare succulent is deeply admired by many collectors. Because of its distinct curly leaves that look like a green velvety satin ribbon on the loose with those creases and folds.
3. Dwarf Crassula
Botanical Name: Moranthes polyphylla
A charmingly tufted succulent is what it is! The Dwarf Crassula is named the “One Flowered Houseleek” because of its peculiar nature of presenting only one flower at a time! Additionally, it is a single plant with many-leaved rosettes that form soft and dense clumps bearing numerous purple flowers like parasols in June.
4. Climbing Onion
Botanical Name: Bowiea volubilis
Commonly known as Climbing Onion or Sea Onion, it grows from a bulb. The sleek and thin stems emerge from the bulb and branch out to about two feet tall. Moreover, it also bears beautiful flowers that look like stars from January to March.
5. Namaqua Century Plant
Botanical Name: Boophone haemanthoides
Have a look at this weird yet wings-like attractive succulent! The Boophone haemanthoides is a summer-flowering geophyte that grows from a massive, egg-shaped bulb surrounded by thick layers of gray or brown, papery outer tunics.
Fun Fact: It looks like a primitive plant with at least two-thirds of its massive scaly bulb visible above ground. Some of the largest bulbs can be more than a hundred years old!
6. Joshua Tree
Botanical Name: Yucca brevifolia
Yucca brevifolia is a rare gem of the deserts of California and Nevada! Interestingly, it looks like a tree but isn’t one—it’s actually a succulent that is honored as the tree of the desert. Additionally, it has a single tree trunk with tall branches and many clusters of spiky foliage.
7. Horse’s Teeth Haworthia
Botanical Name: Haworthia truncate
Can you imagine a plant that has a cluster of green teeth popping out of the ground? Then the Horse’s teeth Haworthia succulent is something just like that. It features dark-green or grayish-green rectangular leaves arranged in rows.
8. Spiral Aloe
Botanical Name: Aloe polyphylla
A beautiful form of rosettes beautifully arranged in a tight spiral shape. The Spiral Aloe has a unique growth pattern where its green, pointy, and short leaves spiral in a mesmerizing way, so a favorite for succulent collectors.
9. Button Plant
Botanical Name: Conophytum pageae
Not any other but this particular succulent definitely looks like lips! The Button plant is a tiny little plant that typically forms a mound by growing in groups of several bodies and has a distinct slit right in the middle of each mound. Surprisingly, this is why it appears like human lips or buttons!
10. Carrion Flower
Botanical Name: Stapelia gigantea
This fascinating succulent is sure to grab your attention with its giant star-shaped flower. It has a leathery texture that mimics the rotting flesh of a dead animal (like meat or giving it a strong odor, too!) and varies from pale yellow to reddish brown with an elaborate pattern of dark reddish stripes.
11. Jewel Plant
Botanical Name: Titanopsis schwantesii
The Jewel plant has quite an unusual appearance! It is a mat-forming succulent with clusters of basal rosettes that resemble small, rocky formations in its native habitat. Moreover, the leaves grow in small rosettes and their tips are densely covered with white warty tubercles.
12. Baseball Plant
Botanical Name: Euphorbia obesa
If you like round or spherical plants to have an adorable collection then this one is just for you! The Baseball plant is a highly succulent, solitary plant that looks like a green-brown football and doesn’t have spines or leaves on it. However, it does sometimes ‘branch’ or sucker to create an odd-looking cluster of spheres.
13. Mountain Rose
Botanical Name: Greenovia dodrantalis
So beautiful and flowery! The Mountain Rose is just one of a kind because of the compact rosette structure it gives out. Its velvety leaves are bound in a tight rosette pattern that gives it a new bud of a rose flower and that is exactly where the name comes from.
14. Bunny Succulent
Botanical Name: Monilaria obconica
One of the most adorable on this list—thanks to its bunny-like appearance! It is a sight to behold to see these deciduous plants growing in clusters on the mountains. There is a set of tiny green leaves that appear on top of the spherical body that can definitely trick you into making it look like the ears of a bunny!
15. Suzanna’s Euphorbia
Botanical Name: Euphorbia suzannae
A globular succulent that typically grows in small clumps of hemispherical plants. They are not very tall and can reach up to a maximum height of 6-8 inches.
Caution: It produces latex, which is a whitish sap that is toxic to humans and pets. It can cause a severe allergic reaction if it comes in contact with your skin so it is advised to wear protective gloves while handling it.
16. Frizzle Sizzle
Botanical Name: Albuca spiralis
Looks pretty much like a fern but, surprisingly, it is a succulent! The Frizzle Sizzle is a unique plant that grows from a bulb and develops curly stems and foliage. Grow this beauty in well-drained soil and place it in a sunny spot to encourage its curly, spiral, and corkscrew-like leaves.
17. Crassula Alstonii
Botanical Name: Crassula alstonii
Crassula alstonii is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It grows beautifully on gently sloped gravel. Additionally, it also bears creamy to pale yellow flowers that appear in the fall.
18. Ming Thing Cactus
Botanical Name: Cereus ‘Ming Thing’
A unique cactus that forms dense sculptural clusters of mound-like, blue-green branches with white woolly areoles and short black spines at the top. Unlike most succulents, the Ming Thing Cactus needs more water during its active growing period, i.e., in summer.
19. Kombru
Botanical Name: Fockea comaru
Looks like a tuber and this tuber is made of spongy, water-holding tissue that helps it survive in drought conditions. You must avail of its greyish to brownish-green flowers that appear during the spring-summer season.
20. Chinese Jade
Botanical Name: Sinocrassula yunnanensis
As the name suggests, Chinese jade hails from China but is now popular as an exotic houseplant globally. It is deeply admired for its furry, hairy, and thick skin with greenish-gray leaves.
21. Crassula Umbrella
Botanical Name: Crassula umbella ‘Wine Cup’
We always save the best ones for last! The Wine Cup Crassula is one fascinating species that boasts round leaves fused at the center to form a cup. That is also the point where the long flower stalks emerge. Pretty interesting, right?
Of course, they are all fascinating and unique and we hope you enjoyed all of them. However, can you do us a favor? Would you let us know in the comment section below, which peculiar one matches your mood right now? Definitely, there is one out there, just think and tell us as soon as you know it!
