List of fictional plants

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This list of fictional plants describes invented plants that appear in works of fiction.

In fiction

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth

In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series

Frithsden Beeches on Berkhamsted Common "played" (with a bit of CGI tweaking) the Whomping Willow in the Harry Potter film The Prisoner of Azkaban. In 1866, it was at the centre of the Battle of Berkhamsted Common. It was also noted by the naturalist Richard Mabey in his book "Beechcombings".[12]

In Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere Series

On the planet Roshar (The Stormlight Archive)
  • 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.[16] Firemoss is highly addictive, limiting its medicinal use, though it is sometimes used to reduce cranial swelling[17] and offer pain relief.[18]
  • 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.[17]
  • 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.[18] 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.[19]
  • 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).[17] 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.[18] Rockbuds are harvested for consumption, limited medicinal uses, and paper making.
  • Shalebark: A class of stony, fanlike plants often used for decoration and landscaping.[17]
On the planet Nalthis (Warbreaker)
  • Tears of Edgli: Vibrantly colored flowers that grow only in the temperate T'Telir climate. Highly valuable both economically and magically.[20]
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.[21]
On the planet Taldain (White Sand Series)
  • 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.[22]

In Dungeons & Dragons

The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons has a number of imaginary, according to Charles Elliott "not-very-ingenious", plant species,[15] 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.[23]

  • Basidirond: a giant multi-stemmed fungus creature[24]
  • Hangman tree: a tree that will attempt to strangle anyone who ventures under it[25]
  • Kelpie: a shape-shifting mass of animate seaweed that can imitate a woman or other creatures, and drowns its victims[25]
  • 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".[26]
  • Oaken defender: an enormous disk-shaped plant that lives in dryad groves and assists in their defense[27]
  • Obliviax: "memory moss", a black moss that steals memories from intelligent creatures[25]
  • Phantom fungus:[23] a dangerous subterranean plant that grapples victims with tentacles[28]
  • Shambling mound:[23] an atrocious plant-like creature, also called a shambler[25]
  • Shrieker: Ambulatory fungus,[23] 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 from Screen Rant ranked the man-sized shrieker among the weakest monsters in the game.[26]
  • Tendriculos: an enormous, savage, sentient plant resembling a huge, tangled shrubbery[28]
  • Treant: sentient trees with human characteristics that typically protect forests from antagonists[25]
  • Vegepygmy: a "mold man", a former human transformed by russet mold[25]
  • Wood woad: a creature resembling big, burly, bestial men made entirely of wood and bark bearing, but without foliage[29]
  • Yellow musk creeper:[23] a creeping plant that drains the intelligence of its victims, killing them or turning them into "yellow musk zombies" under the plant's control[25]

In Monty Python's Flying Circus

The following plants appear in the David Attenborough sketch of the last Monty Python episode.

  • Angolan sauntering tree (Amazellus robin ray).
  • Gambian sidling bush.
  • Puking Tree of Mozambique.
  • The Turkish little rude plant.
  • 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 an atmosphere that is thicker than on Earth, with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, xenon and hydrogen sulfide. Gravity is weaker in Pandora, thereby giving rise to gigantism. There is a strong magnetic field, causing plants to develop 'magneto-tropism'. A particularly intriguing quality of flora and fauna in Pandora is their ability to communicate with each other. This is explained in the movie as a phenomenon called 'signal transduction', pertaining to how plants perceive a signal and respond to it.[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.

In DC Comics

Appearing in

bio-aura". The organism is telepathic, and reads its victim's heart's desire, giving them a logical simulation and an ending that the victim wants, which the victim experiences an entirely immersive, virtual experience in which their actual surroundings are masked to them. According to Mongul, victims are capable of "shrugging off" the hallucination, though some find the experience too compelling to do so unaided.[33]

The Black Mercy is typically depicted as consisting of dark green, thorned vines that attach themselves to a humanoid victim's upper torso, with a set of pink flowers, each with a long, red, tentacle-like

Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan are both able to do so in a subsequent storyline when they are both trapped by the same plant, as this meant that the two were sharing an illusion and Hal's strength of will caused Oliver to experience what Hal believed was his friend's greatest desire rather than Oliver making the choice himself.[34]

In the video game Injustice 2, Supergirl mentions Black Mercy in pre-battle dialogue with Scarecrow. She states dealing with him is no different than dealing with Black Mercy, causing Scarecrow to ask her what is Black Mercy out of curiosity, causing Supergirl to describe it as an evil space plant.

Characters who have experienced the Black Mercy include:

In mythology

Hoaxes

  • Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The tree is said to have a gray trunk and animated vine-like stems used to capture and kill humans and other large animals. Comparable plants are mentioned in tall tales and fiction.[citation needed
    ]
  • Panorama
    in 1957.

See also

Further reading

  • Elliott, Charles (2011). "Imaginary Plants". Why Every Man Needs a Tractor. London: .
  • Miller, T.S. (2014). "Plants, Monstrous". In Weinstock, Jeffrey (ed.). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 470–475.

Notes

  1. ^ The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"
  2. ^ The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 8 "Of the Darkening of Valinor"

References

  1. ^ "Mark of the Vampire (1935) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  2. ^ a b "Synopsis: "By Any Means Necessary"". www.midwinter.com.
  3. ^ Cynthia Crossen (9 December 2005). "Think Your Family Is Strange? Spend Time With the Starkadders". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ The Fellowship of the Ring, "Flight to the Ford"
  6. ^ The Return of the King, "The Houses of Healing", Index IV
  7. ^ The Fellowship of the Ring, "Lothlórien"
  8. ^ The Lord of the Rings, "Prologue"
  9. ^ The Return of the King, "Homeward Bound"
  10. ^ Unfinished Tales, "A Description of the Island of Númenor"
  11. ^ The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall"
  12. ^ Mabey, Richard (7 November 2015). "The queen beech ruled the land, even when she fell". New Statesman. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  13. .
  14. .
  15. ^ .
  16. OCLC 969863614.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  17. ^
    OCLC 471819495.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  18. ^
    OCLC 867184929.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  19. ^ "The Way of Kings - Rockbuds by Inkthinker on DeviantArt". www.deviantart.com. October 2010. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  20. OCLC 276334993
    .
  21. OCLC 894996388.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  22. OCLC 953421413.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  23. ^ .
  24. .
  25. ^ .
  26. ^ a b Baird, Scott (May 20, 2018). "Dungeons & Dragons: 10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  27. .
  28. ^
    ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  29. ISBN 0-7869-3430-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  30. ^ "Avatar's New Twist on Plants".
  31. ^ "Don't Miss These Amazing Disney Details in Pandora – the World of Avatar". 4 May 2017.
  32. ^ "Starflight Command". Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-04-07.[self-published source]
  33. ^
    Gibbons, Dave (a). "For the Man Who Has Everything", Superman Annual #11 (1985). DC Comics
    .
  34. ^
    Pacheco, Carlos (p), Merino, Jesus (i). "A Perfect Life: Chapters 1-2", Green Lantern
    (Vol. 4) #7-8 (February–March 2006). DC Comics.
  35. Zircher, Patrick (a). "Revenge, Part I". Action Comics
    #979 (early June 2017). DC Comics.