Friday, June 21, 2013

Venus flytraps look pretty lame next to this thing

Introducing Puya chilensis, the sheep-eating plant.
In its native Chile, Puya chilensis uses its enormous neon spikes to trap sheep in the Andes mountains. After razor-sharp spines on the tips of its leaves ensnare the animal, it starves to death and decomposes at the base of the plant, becoming its favored fertilizer.

10 comments:

SwampWoman said...

Sounds like a lovely decorative plant for the perimeters of the yard. If you make a few casual comments around the neighborhood that the nectar of the plant has hallucinogenic effects, well, you'll never need to fertilize.

Merilyn said...

Never fear SwampWoman, Paco Enterprises are working on that plant for sale right now, soon to be in a Nursery near you.....of course you do realise that it comes with a no money back warning.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1 said:

Decorative borders throughout D.C.? I doubt if the plant can distinguish politicians from sheep.....

RebeccaH said...

It's a Triffid! RUN! IT'S A @%#%$*&^ TRIFFID!!

SwampWoman said...

Anonymous 1 said:

Decorative borders throughout D.C.? I doubt if the plant can distinguish politicians from sheep.....


Even better. Quick! Double...no, triple the price of the plants!

Anonymous said...

Deborah .... Paco, just think what you could do with Miracle Grow. ( smiling mischievously)

Horticulturists in New Zealand and Scotland are upset by the ban.

Anonymous said...

Deborah .... Who knew there were sheep in the Andes. What's wrong with Alpacas and Llamas?

Michael Lonie said...

Deborah,
Maybe alpacas and llamas are smarter than sheep.

Using them for decorative borders in DC sounds like a winning idea. After all, politiciians are no more admirable today than they were in the Victorian Era, when Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" included a song by Koko, the Lord High Executioner, about the little list he had of potential execution victims, among whom were:

And apologetic statesmen of a compromising kind,
Such as Whatchamacallem, Thingummybob, and likewise,
Well never mind.
And Tut-tut-tut and Whatshisname, and likewise you know who,
The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you.
But it really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list,
For they'd none of them be missed, they'd none of them be missed.

Anonymous said...

Deborah .... Michael, good point. Add vicunas to the list. Perhaps several Puya specimens should be shipped to DC. They would definitly be fat and happy.

Michael Lonie said...

Deborah,
Certainly. Think of all the sheep, or sheep-like pols, to be found there.