Killer Plants

Carnivorous plants, strangling kelp, giant hogweed, gympie-gympie, falling saguaros, manchineel trees, coconuts, and more!

Music: “Like A Monkey Likes Coconuts” by Hoosier Hot Shots (1939)

Images

 

11 Responses

  1. I liked this episode guys,well done. You should do a werewolf episode. You could a monster series or something. I dont know. But i do know this is quality. Keep it up!

  2. Poor show!!! You did not watch ‘Revenge of the Killer tomatoes’!!!!!. This film would not have annoyed you as much, it has plot, sets, script and your heart will swoon at the young George Clooney in it. I watched this film when I was younger, and I’d never seen the original, after watching them both a few years ago you are right in how bad the original is, but the second one is a enjoyable bad movie, give it a go. 🙂

  3. The Ig Nobel isn’t quiiiiite like the Razzies…it’s more of an award for eccentric, but important science that won’t get much recognition otherwise. I think of it as a “Weird Science” award, and I know *I’d* be thrilled to get one 😉

  4. I loved this weeks show, and I just wanted to congratulate you guys on your pronunciation of saguaro. I have heard it butchered many times and was glad to hear you got it right. Just for some added info on that guy who shot up cacti, saguaros are actually the state tree of Arizona and everyone was very pleased that the cactus got revenge on him. It’s illegal to harm a saguaro here and even construction sites have to save the cacti they displace. There are temporary saguaro farms set up to hold them until they can be replanted. Side note, they don’t bury them, they just set them leaning or lying down. They just survive off their stored water until the constructions done.

  5. The original Mass Effect featured a creature known as the Thorian. It was an enormous sentient plant that controlled the humans who had colonized the region of the planet where it resided through airborne spores.

  6. Thanks for the great show! I have my own dangerous plant story. As a kid, I lived in Thailand and decided to climb a palm tree one day. The tree was covered in tiny hairs that stuck into the skin of my hands, which was immediately painful. I jumped down, screamed in pain and tried to rub the hairs off my hands, but only succeeded in spreading them around my body. It was hours before the rash caused by the hairs subsided with some hydrocortisone cream. I cried a lot.

  7. Another pop culture entry (similar vintage to The Ruins, but a better movie in my opinion): The Woods (2006) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380066/

    Additional Honourable mentions?

    1) The Tree from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. It didn’t actually murder the person, but it did leave us all scarred for life.
    2) The Elder Things from At the Mountains of Madness. They’re not quite plants, but they are repeatedly described as vegetable-like.
    3) Troll 2. Strictly speaking, it’s the goblins and the witch who kill people, but they do it by using some green goo that turns people into plant matter.

    1. Oh hey, I nearly forgot. I’m currently reading the Neil Gaiman / Dave McKean comic book of Black Orchid. I think that qualifies at least as an honourable mention in the pop culture section. Also, the Wikipedia entry on “Parliament of Trees” lists a few other plant-based superheroes, including Swamp Thing.

  8. Looks like this guy might have been attempting to audition for a new performance of The Little Shop Of Horrors:
    Top Stories: ‘Butcher dentist’ faces trial for mutilating French patients
    http://ab.co/1R5NBb1

    Oh, and what was the link to The Descent? I don’t remember hearing you talk about it but there’s a picture in the media section from it (I watched it the other day, so I’m curious).