Dorstenia elata is a plant of specialized appetites. Native to the Atlantic forest fragments of Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, it is listed as endangered in the wild — a fact worth holding in mind when admiring it in cultivation. A member of the mulberry family (Moraceae), it grows 1 to 1.5 feet tall with dark green, glossy leaves up to 10 inches long arranged in a low rosette, making it an unusually handsome foliage plant for a shaded, humid corner.

The flowers are botanically peculiar: a structure called a hypanthodium, which is essentially a flattened, cup-shaped receptacle lined on the inside with three types of flowers — female at the base, male toward the edge, sterile ones in between. It is strange and quietly fascinating up close. When the fruit ripens, seeds can be ejected up to 3 feet from the plant, which makes it modestly weedy in greenhouses and subtropical gardens. Removing the flower receptacles before seeds ripen prevents unwanted spread. This plant demands high humidity, organic-rich moist loam, and consistent warmth; it is winter hardy only in zones 10 to 12 and is best grown in a container that can move indoors in cooler climates.