Orchids: Masters of Plant Pareidolia

Pareidolia is the tendency to see familiar or significant images in places where none is intended. Classic examples are sightings of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in wood grain or the pastime of looking for shapes in clouds. Pareidolia is encouraged in the Rorschach inkblot test. There are plenty of examples in the natural world, and orchids are particularly notable for looking like something else. See what I mean in this article I posted at mental_floss.

Photograph by Javier Díaz Barrera.