G'Quan Eth: A plant indigenous to the Narn homeworld, used as incense in religious ceremonies from Babylon 5. It is ritually burned as incense, and its seeds are a narcotic for Centauri when dropped in alcohol.[2]
Integral Trees: Enormous trees from the science-fiction novel The Integral Trees by Larry Niven. They are 100 kilometers long and have a leafy "tuft" at each end oriented in opposite directions forming an ∫, the integral symbol.
Mariphasa lupina lumina (Wolf Flower): A rare selenotropic, phosphorescent plant found only in the mountains of Tibet from the movie Werewolf of London.
The Mendacity Tree: A tree that grows when lies are whispered to it, and bears hallucinogenic fruit, in Frances Hardinge's novel The Lie Tree.
Sapient pearwood: A rare species of plant in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It can grant other objects sapience.
Snake vine: An dusky, variegated vine originating from the The Sword of Truth. Its bite contains deadly toothlike thorns that burrows into the skin and eventually kills the victim.
Serenna veriformans: A fictional plant that appears in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Tesla trees: Large trees from the planet Hyperion in Hyperion Cantos. They can absorb and release electricity via their crown.
Tree-of-Life: The ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste, from Larry Niven's Known Space novels.
Triffids: Carnivorous plants which possess a whip-like poisonous sting as well as mobility by three foot-like appendages, from the novel The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham. They subsequently appeared in a radio series (BBC, 1960), a motion picture (1962), a TV series (BBC, 1981) and a sequel novel, The Night of the Triffids (2001) by Simon Clark.
Mallorn: A huge tree with green-and-silver leaves turning golden in autumn and remaining so till spring,[4] upon which the Elves of Lothlórien housed[7]
Nimloth: The White Tree of Númenor, a seedling of Celeborn, a seedling of Galathilion, created in the image of Telperion[T 1][T 2][4]
Niphredil: A small white flower from Doriath and Lothlórien[4]
Pipe-weed: "A strain of the herb nicotiana" (tobacco); varieties mentioned include Longbottom Leaf, Old Toby, Southern Star (grown in the Shire) and Southlinch, from Bree[8][9]
Oiolairë: An evergreen fragrant tree highly esteemed by the Númenóreans[4][10]
Simbelmynë: A white flower that grew in Gondolin and Rohan (also known as Evermind and Alfirin)[4][11]
Bobutuber: A slug-like plant whose essence is useful in treating pimples.
Chinese Chomping Cabbage: A flesh-eating plant featured in Hogwarts Legacy.
Devil's Snare: A vine that prefers to grow in damp and dark areas and tangles its victims to death. Professor Sprout uses the Devil's Snare, among other objects, to protect the Philosopher's Stone.
Dirigible plum: A tree with fruits that grow upside-down.
Dittany: A herb with powerful medicinal properties.
Fanged Geranium
Gillyweed: A seaweed-like plant that grants temporary fish-like characteristics to those who ingest it.
Gurdyroot: A plant that resembles a green onion. It is the basis for a foul-tasting purple infusion brewed by the Lovegoods to fend off Gulping Plimpies.[12][13] Considered not very original by gardening expert Charles Elliott, depending on a funny name for effect.[14]
Mandrake: Tubers that look like babies when young. Their screams can kill when fully grown. A potion made from mature mandrakes can reverse petrification.
Mimbulus mimbletonia: A cactus-like plant.
Snargaluff: A flesh-eating tree.
Venoumous tentacula
The Whomping Willow: A tree with mobile, club-like branches.
Firemoss: A red-brown moss that, when activated by rubbing between the thumb and forefinger, releases wisps of smoke that create feelings of euphoria when inhaled and is used as a recreational drug.[15] Firemoss is highly addictive, limiting its medicinal use, though it is sometimes used to reduce cranial swelling[16] and offer pain relief.[17]
Knobweed: Like most of the plants found on Rohsar, knobweed has adapted to survive the planet's harsh storms. The reed-like stalk anchors itself directly to stone and the frond found at the top of the stalk has the ability to contract and retreat into the stalk during storms for protection. Knobweed reproduces by releasing fluffy pappuses that carry seeds into the air. The milky white sap found inside knobweed stems is a natural and highly valuable antiseptic used in the field and by established apothecaries.[16]
Prickletac: Prickletac plants are actually colonies of much smaller living buds. As each generation of buds dies it converts to a hard, stony material which the next generation builds upon.[17] Prickletac's reproductive system is based on this oddity – when a 'limb' grows too large it breaks off and falls to the ground, scattering living buds. Also known as Twisted Spine.[18]
Rockbuds: Rockbud is both a general term for several shelled plants on Roshar, including Lavis Polyps, Vinebuds, and Prickletac Shrubs, and the proper name for a specific plant. The true Rockbud plant is a shelled plant containing lengthy tendrils that reach out to lap up water (and occasionally animal blood).[16] The size of fully grown rockbuds depends largely on climate. In colder climates they grow no larger than a human fist, while rockbuds in warm climates can grow to the size of a barrel.[17] Rockbuds are harvested for consumption, limited medicinal uses, and paper making.
Shalebark: A class of stony, fanlike plants often used for decoration and landscaping.[16]
Tears of Edgli: Vibrantly colored flowers that grow only in the temperate T'Telir climate. Highly valuable both economically and magically.[19]
On the planet First of the Sun (Sixth of the Dusk);
Unnamed Telepathic Trees: Many flora and fauna on this planet communicate with a form of natural telepathy. Certain unnamed plants living on the islands that make up the Pantheon send false thoughts of wounded or frightened animals to attract predators, which often fight and leave victims dead near enough to the tree to provide nutrition. These plants are not directly carnivorous.[20]
Dorim vines: Dorim vines live under the sand that covers most of Taldain's Dayside continent, reaching down to the water table where they fill themselves with water as a defensive mechanism against predators – the hard shells of many of the continents animals is dissolved by contact with water. Pouring water onto sand draws nearby vines out of the ground.[21]
In Dungeons & Dragons
The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons has a number of, according to Charles Elliott "not-very-ingenious", imaginary plant species,[14] as well as "a taxonomy of fungal horrors", which Ben Woodard considers eerie not only for their poisonous nature, but because many have the ability to move.[22]
Basidirond: A giant multi-stemmed fungus creature[23]
Hangman tree: A tree that will attempt to strangle anyone who ventures under it[24]
Kelpie: A shape-shifting mass of animate seaweed that can imitate a woman or other creatures, and drowns its victims[24]
Myconid: A "race of [man-sized] sentient fungus creatures", "some of which pack a mean punch", and which have the "ability to spray poisons that can disable their foes".[25]
Oaken defender: An enormous disk-shaped plant that lives in dryad groves and assists in their defense[26]
Obliviax: A black moss that steals memories from intelligent creatures.[24] The obliviax appeared on Geek.com's list of "The most underrated monsters of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", because ingesting the moss can transfer the memories, an "interesting" concept which lends itself to "Christopher Nolan-esque adventures that will be both universally applauded and terribly confusing at the same time.".[27]
Phantom fungus:[22] A dangerous subterranean plant that grapples victims with tentacles[28]
Shambling mound:[22] An atrocious plant-like creature, also called a shambler[24]
Shrieker: Ambulatory fungus,[22] which "can be used as cheap alarm systems for Underdark societies, but they possess no combat abilities of their own. The only thing a shrieker can do is shriek". Scott Baird of Screen Rant ranked the Shrieker among the weakest monsters in the game.[25]
Tendriculos: An enormous, savage, sentient plant resembling a huge, tangled shrubbery[28]
Treant: Sentient, humanoid trees who protect forests from antagonists[24]
Vegepygmy: A "mold man", a former human transformed by russet mold[24]
Wood woad: A creature resembling big, burly, bestial men made entirely of wood and bark bearing, but without foliage[29]
Yellow musk creeper:[22] A creeping plant that drains the intelligence of its victims, killing them or turning them into "yellow musk zombies" under the plant's control[24]
Walking tree of Dahomey (Quercus nicholas parsonus).
In Avatar
In the Avatar franchise, plants on Pandora have evolved according to the characteristics of their environment, which has a thicker atmosphere than Earth. Pandoran plants can communicate via a phenomenon called 'signal transduction'.[30][31]
In video games
Video games frequently feature fictional plants as items that can be collected by the player, or occasionally appear as non-player characters.
The Monster Hunter series has multiple fictional flowers and plants that can be gathered by the player character, including nulberries, might seeds, flowferns, and dragonstrike nuts.
In The Legend of Zelda series, plants play a significant role. In many games, bomb flowers allow Link to explode rocks and obstacles.[32] In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Link can collect plants that grant him buffs when cooked.[33] The Great Deku Tree, the guardian of the Korok Forest, is a recurring character in the franchise.[34][35][36]
Broc Flower: A medicinal plant appearing in the Fallout series.
Supox utricularia: A race of kind, sentient plant creatures from the Star Control series.
Xander Root: A medicinal plant appearing in the Fallout series.
Sylvari: A race of sapient plant people in the MMO Guild Wars 2, available as a playable race.
In comics
The Black Mercy is an extraterrestrial plant appearing in the DC Comics universe that can force others to witness a simulation of their greatest desire. It plays a prominent role in the story "For the Man Who Has Everything", where Mongul uses it on Superman.[39]
The Cotati are a plant-like species from the Marvel Comics universe who originate from the same planet as the Kree.[40]
Austras koks: A tree which grows from the start of the Sun's daily journey across the sky in Latvian mythology.
Barnacle tree: A mythical tree believed in the Middle Ages to have barnacles that opened to reveal geese. The story may have started from goose barnacles growing on driftwood.
Miller, T.S. (2014). "Plants, Monstrous". In Weinstock, Jeffrey (ed.). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 470–475.
Notes
^The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
^The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 8 "Of the Darkening of Valinor"
^Darowski, Joseph J. (November 2014). The Ages of the Avengers: Essays on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Changing Times. McFarland & Company. p. 27. ISBN9780786474585.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
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