England, Meet Your New Giant Sheep-Eating PlantPuya chilensis is a very large bromeliad native to the mountains of Chile. Bromeliads are spiky mostly tropical mostly New-World plants the best-known of which is probably the pineapple. But while the pineapple is delicious Puya chilensis is a bit more...sinister.Most bromeliads have firm hard leaves but Puya chilensis is sort of an extreme example. Its leaves look sort of like aloe leaves but in between them are huge sharp spines that jut out past them. Most plants that have spines like cacti use them for protection but it's theorized that Puya chilensis actually uses them for hunting.This plant is sometimes known as a sheep-eating plant which is not strictly speaking accurate: it is not a carnivorous plant like the well-known pitcher plant or Venus flytrap as it doesn't actually digest animal matter. Instead scientists believe that the spikes trap animals with thick fur like sheep which then starve to death fall to the ground and decompose at the base of the plant providing highly rich localized food for the plant. It's gruesome as hell.It's not a particularly rare plant; it's in the news now because for the first time horticulturists in England have coaxed it to bloom 15 years after planting it. They've been feeding it liquid fertilizer because says one of the horticulturists feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic. [BBC]Evil comes in all sorts of forms and there is always someone or something in the shadows supporting it as well. What a grim plant indeed! I feel so sad for the animals it catches......................
I am not secretly eavesdropping on you. I am microscopically 'analyzing' your communication and saving it for further 'analysis' on the premise you might be a terrorist. The word analysis makes it legally ok. ~US Gov
.I wouldn't call it evil any more that I would call a lion hunting a gazelle evil.  It's merely another aspect of nature.dsDoan
 You point is well taken in the same way of their exist a ying and yang so goes good and evil.balanceIf they are so common you would think we would see it in action. Rather we need to be told this. I call this suspect.O no!o wait its in a green house in Surrey (rolls eyes)This is not the first time they've flowered in England (maybe in a glasshouse). They flower every year at Tresco Abbey Gardens in England on the isles of Scilly. www.tresco.co.uk/what-to-do/abbey-garden/plant_april.aspx
We've had them here since 1842 when Charles Darwin brought them over after he discovered them in Chile. We also have the stunning blue Puya berteroniana.1. Good and evil do not exist - this is a plant that wants to survive just like those sheep eat grass to survive - news flash - they KILL the grass. Neither is good or evil just hungry
2. It's YIN AND YANG you sad hippy.I like sheep and so this plant is evil in my heart!wonder i feel like u wouldn't feel that way if there was a lot of sheep around u and u were out of food...and now everyone is growing the Zombie Plant at home because its plays DEAD when you Touch it!... www.thezombieplant.com