Timeline for Is a man-eating plant realistic?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 21, 2020 at 23:24 | comment | added | ikrase | Natural punji sticks or vine snares also seem possible | |
| Oct 4, 2014 at 18:29 | comment | added | Markus | I played a mobile game, which had an idea, that sounded very realisitc to me: The plant was a flower, which grows in large fields. It emits an airbourne substance, that creates hallicination, then sleepiness, then paralysis, then death. The prey would simply die in the field, decay naturally and feed it. Very energy efficient. Problem could be, that ppl would soon avoid such fields, but they may not be that obvious. | |
| Oct 3, 2014 at 4:23 | comment | added | Nick T | I remember some vines from Minority Report that send Tom Cruise into anaphylactic shock, where he apparently had great difficulty breathing. | |
| Oct 3, 2014 at 0:02 | comment | added | Chepech | "Structurally strong" really means only being able to withstand the chemical (digestive enzyme, bacteria or acid) that uses to digest the animal, not necessarily resistance to physical struggling, in the end the whole point of the incapacitating venom is precisely to avoid that. Im thinking on something more in the therms of a pitcher plant like the Nepenthes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthes) than Venus plants. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 23:11 | comment | added | CCJ | consider segmented bark on the vines providing jointed rigidity, like plate mail armor. Perhaps the structure of the bark segments is such that they can be twisted to 'lock' together as if they were a single rigid object at the plant's leisure. This would allow for flexibility during the 'prey catching' event, rigidity during the 'prey holding' event, and a measure of disguise the rest of the time. Of course any plant that has to quickly move vines around to catch prey is probably going to need muscle tissue (or something similar) and an advanced nervous system | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 22:47 | comment | added | VolleyJosh | I read a story using this conceit. The plant grew berries that were very appealing smelling and testing to the animal (Humans, in this story). The berries were addictive and highly poisonous- anyone eating the fruit was incapacitated in minutes. The bush was home to a symbiotic colony of ants that would strip the meat off the bones of the animal and carry it back to their nest, which was in among the roots of the bush. Thus the bush was fed the meat of the animal. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 15:12 | comment | added | guildsbounty | The snag you could run into with this is that the toxin would either have to be continually administered, or would have to be permanently incapacitating. It takes time to digest something, especially when it hasn't been crunched up, and you are made of digestible materials. (work around - plant innards are lined with mucus like the human stomach). So if the toxin wears off, you could have a badly burnt, but very angry 'victim' trying to rip their way out of the plant. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 15:07 | comment | added | BSteinhurst | @Eric yeah, I couldn't see my way through the moving parts of the plant being strong enough to resist something like a boar or human. Maybe a plant that has a trunk like a tree holding up the vines... and that just gets more terrifying. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 14:38 | comment | added | Eric | structurally stronger, the plant could be like a tree. Not all plants have to be soft. A man eating tree would be terrifying. Flexibility is an issue though, so a Pitcher Plant method could work on a grand scale. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 14:03 | comment | added | trichoplax is on Codidact now | I like this idea. Now I'm imagining hanging vines with poison hairs like a stinging nettle. Animals falling paralysed below the vine which then coils around them and sends roots into the body. | |
| Oct 2, 2014 at 12:54 | history | answered | BSteinhurst | CC BY-SA 3.0 |