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Killer Petunias and Murderous Potatoes Revealed
Yahoo News ^ | 8 Dec 2009 | Charles Q. Choi

Posted on 12/08/2009 1:55:30 PM PST by Ben Mugged

Petunias and potatoes may actually be carnivorous plants, scientists now suggest.

Indeed, carnivorous behavior may be far more widespread in plants than commonly thought - if we take a closer look, botanists said.

At least six different kinds of killer plants have been recognized since the time of Darwin, such as Venus flytraps, which snares insects between its jaw-like leaves, and pitcher plants, which capture victims in slippery pits. These plants apparently target animals to supplement their growth in harsh, nutrient-poor habitats.

Many other plants, some quite common, have also been suggested as potential carnivores over the years that have failed to gain wide acceptance as such thus far. Petunias and potatoes, for instance, have sticky hairs that trap insects, and several species of campion flowers have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

"We may be surrounded by many more murderous plants than we think," said botanist Mark Chase, Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in England.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: carniverous; peta
PETA, Petunias and Potatoes Eating Tasty Animals.

Even vegitables are not vegitarians.

1 posted on 12/08/2009 1:55:32 PM PST by Ben Mugged
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To: Ben Mugged

Was frying potatoes....All of a sudden...An eye caught my eye and...


2 posted on 12/08/2009 1:58:54 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: SunkenCiv; muawiyah; blam; Nachum

*ping*


3 posted on 12/08/2009 1:59:19 PM PST by hennie pennie
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To: Ben Mugged

Is there any such thing as a Pelosi flytrap?


4 posted on 12/08/2009 2:01:44 PM PST by donhunt ("The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus)
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To: donhunt

C’mon. Four posts and no one put up the Movie Poster from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?


5 posted on 12/08/2009 2:04:17 PM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Sacajaweau

Have some more fried Trifid?
I swear those plants were following me...


6 posted on 12/08/2009 2:07:32 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Ben Mugged

Feed me!

7 posted on 12/08/2009 2:08:26 PM PST by P.O.E. (- End road work.)
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To: massgopguy

8 posted on 12/08/2009 2:09:33 PM PST by null and void (We are now in day 321 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Ben Mugged
I think my petunias are plotting to kill me.

Every time I get near them they clam up and don't utter a word.

Here's a photo of one attacking a bumblebee.


9 posted on 12/08/2009 2:19:35 PM PST by capt. norm (Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.)
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To: Ben Mugged

"Come a little closer, and I'll EAT YOU ALIVE!"

10 posted on 12/08/2009 2:30:16 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: massgopguy
Dr. Nokitofa: Technically sir, tomatoes are fags.
Dr. Morrison: He means fruits.
11 posted on 12/08/2009 2:45:06 PM PST by colorado tanker (What's it all about, Barrrrry? Is it just for the power, you live?)
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To: Ben Mugged

12 posted on 12/08/2009 7:19:26 PM PST by LibFreeOrDie (Obama promised a gold mine, but will give us the shaft.)
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To: hennie pennie

Okay hennie pennie, I admit it, you’ve beaten me tonight for sheer variety. :’)

BTW, petunias and potatoes are relatives. :’) It’s a big family (not in the scientific classification sense of the term “family”). In no particular order, those two, plus tobacco, nicotiana, jerusalem cherry, the European Love Apple, husk tomatoes, tomatillos, chinese lanterns, all peppers (sweet and hot), tomatos, eggplants, solanum nigrum (”deadly nightshade”), datura, oleander, poinsettias...


13 posted on 12/08/2009 7:42:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: SunkenCiv

oleander

You just had to know that when Jo-ann’s new husband
picked oleander from beside the kitchen door for her
wedding bouquet that their marriage was going right
down the tube. Soap opera memories.


14 posted on 12/08/2009 7:46:23 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

That’ll be the day I go back to Annandale.


15 posted on 12/08/2009 8:20:21 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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