The plant that looks like a coral

Name: Balanophora coralliformis

Location: Mount Mingan, Philippines

What is it: An atypical tuber plant

Why it made the list: This parasitic plant has elongated, repeatedly branching, and rough-textured tubers that grow above ground.

These peculiar tubers give this root parasite from the Philippines a coral-like appearance distinct from the more typical underground tubers of related species.

Parasitic plants do not contain chlorophyll and are incapable of photosynthesis, so they draw their nutrition from other living plants.

There are currently just 50 known plants of this species, all found between 4,800 and 5,600 feet (1,465 and 1,735 m) up on the southwestern slopes of Mount Mingan in mossy forest areas.

As so few plants are known to exist, and the narrow area in which they live is unprotected, the scientists who described it consider the plant critically endangered.

Although it may look like an underwater coral, this parastic plant actually grows on the forested mountain slopes in the Philippines