Even the trees are vicious? And not really trees at all?
Australia has a parasite believed to be the largest in the world, a tree whose greedy roots stab victims up to 110m away. The Christmas tree (Nuytsia floribunda) has blades for slicing into the roots of plants to steal their sap. The blades are sharp enough to draw blood on human lips. They cause power failures when the tree attacks buried cables by mistake. Telephone lines get cut as well.
Remind me again which edition of the Monster Manual Australia bases it’s flora & fauna on?
You have it backwards…The Monster Manual was published as a D&D Manual only because no one believed Gary’s original Biology PhD dissertation “Flora and Fauna of Australia: It Will All Kill You Dead In Your Nightmares” wasn’t fiction :-)
The name’s appropriate, though, especially given the association of mistletoe and Christmas :P
I want some.
My neighbours can be a bit annoying…
How is it not a tree?
As an Aussie, I’d like to say that I think we have acquitted ourselves well for lack of large, land based, alpha predators. Lions and Tigers and Bears oh pffft!
Obligatory link to Australia: The Confusing Country — which, unaccountably, makes no mention of the Odd flora of that continent/island/country. Nevertheless.
Fortunately my own garden is separated from this monster by 2000 kilometres of desert, including the aptly named Nullarbor Plain
“The blades are sharp enough to draw blood on human lips.”
What…exactly was someone doing when this discovery was made?
Does this remind anyone else of an episode of WTF, Evolution?
To be fair, WTF, Evolution? was always a bit over focussed on Metazoans. Maybe Law & Order: Special Vegetation Unit?
um, could someone please tell me why australians are kissing this parasitic plant? i’m a little unclear on the process/fetish that resulted in the determination that “The blades are sharp enough to draw blood on human lips.”