KATIE MARIE

Venus Fly Trap but Bigger

Today I want to write to you about the legendary man-eating tree of Madagascar, think Venus fly trap but way bigger and more vine-y.

The people-eating tree was first spoken about in 1874, thanks to German explorer Carl Liche. He described the tree as tall, with long hairy tendrils and tentacles which constantly move. He spoke of a fictional tribe which would sacrifice a woman to the tree, the tree was pretty thrilled with this and ate her much the way a snake would.

While this was thoroughly disproven, the concept of man-eating plants fascinates us. Carnivorous plants being real of course, it takes no great leap of the imagination to size them up enough to make people their prey.

The art of subversion at play again, at least a little bit, we enjoy plants, they are pretty, they feed us, we cultivate and love them. But wait what if one ate us!

Man-eating plants have been the subject of various media, one of the best known being Little Shop of Horrors, more recently being Life of Pi, and The Ruins (which I have written to you about before). They also pop up in independent projects such as the SCP Files.

Even I have written a story about them!