Flower cannibal. Man-eating plants

We calmly walk through the forest, have picnics in nature, grow exotic plants on the windowsill, and yet... The real world of plants is very different from the well-groomed park in which we live, and there is plenty of evidence of this.

Man-eating plants

The sensation of 1958 was a photograph brought by amateur hunter (and biologist by profession) Klaus von Schwimmer from the wilds of Central Africa in 1958. It depicted a predatory tree that fed on the flesh of animals and people. Schwimmer organized an expedition intending to explore the headwaters of the Kapomobo River in Northern Rhodesia. There was a small but completely unexplored region of foothill jungle, rich in game and inhabited by fairly peaceful natives. The expedition included five whites and 20 porters, led by an experienced hunter and interpreter from the Barotse tribe. Travelers ascended the river in motorboats, then went deeper into the jungle, cutting their way with machetes. They were heading towards one of the nameless mountains. And suddenly we felt an intense smell, unusual for a tropical forest, brought by the morning breeze.

Travelers immediately noticed that they sensed this smell in different ways. To Klaus it reminded him of the aroma of his favorite Camembert, to Joe it reminded him of a well-done steak, to Bow it reminded him of some delicate berry, and to the others it reminded him of strawberries. The most important thing is that he was very attractive and seemed to call to his source. Talking uncertainly, people moved in that direction. And soon they came to a large clearing. It was round, about seventy meters in diameter and covered with a dense carpet of short grass, gradually disappearing towards the center. There, in a ring of gray-yellow earth, stood a lone grove of trees similar to an Indian banyan tree: in addition to the thick main trunk, there were several more. The crown is wide, with dense dark shiny leaves, 30 meters in diameter. Numerous vines hung from the branches.

"The amazing smell intensified, suppressed all senses, pushed forward to a strange tree. The travelers slowly stepped forward, and then Klaus brought binoculars to his eyes and immediately commanded: Quickly cover your noses! It's a trap! There's a thick layer of bones! This tree is a predator! We need to get out from here!"

Time passed before his comrades began to come to their senses. After a short meeting, we tightly sealed our nostrils with chewing gum and carefully approached the tree. “Look! There's a human skeleton over there! And to the right - another one! And skulls." Yes, many animals ended their lives here - not hundreds, thousands. And a lot of people...

— We need to check whether it attacks or passively waits for the victim. I'll get the bait. — Klaus looked up, taking the rifle with a telescopic sight off his shoulder. Several corpse eaters lazily circled in the sky, looking for prey. Klaus fired - and a few minutes later returned, dragging a bare-necked vulture by the wing. When he threw it under the nearest tree branches, there was a quick reaction: the vines hanging down moved and reached out to the place where the bird fell, entwining it. Soon she resembled a ball of snakes. The hunters did not realize the possible danger and, frozen, watched. Suddenly, a green ribbon shot out from the branches, instantly engulfing Joe's torso, pinning his arms to his sides like a lasso. He could barely stand on his feet from the jerk. Bow swung the machete - blow, another blow! Having sprayed everyone with juice, the severed “liana” jumped back. Having run back about ten meters, the travelers freed Joe from the dangerous tentacle, at the end of which there was a hook with jagged edges that helped hold the victim. A piece of tentacle very quickly began to darken, soften, and after a few minutes disintegrated into lumps of mucus.

“We decided not to say anything to the porters. Perhaps this tree was sacred to them and associated with some taboos. But the next seconds forced them to change their decision - a heart-rending screech was heard nearby! They rushed forward: on the edge of the bone belt a ball of tentacles was moving. two black legs were sticking out of him. Realizing the futility of their attempt, Joe and Klaus nevertheless rushed forward with raised machetes. Several tentacles “shot” towards them, but could not reach them. It was clear that it was no longer possible to help the unfortunate man. After a few seconds, the screams died down "More and more vines were sliding down from above. Now a ball with a diameter of three meters has formed around the body of the unfortunate black man."

The terrible news became known among the porters. The opinion of all blacks was unequivocal - the dangerous predator must be destroyed. At dawn, they carefully plugged their nostrils with balls of resin from some tree, obtained by the headman. They began to drag armfuls of branches to the edge of the “clearing of death.” By noon, we had collected enough brushwood and dried vines. They began to throw armfuls of dry branches onto the bone belt and immediately set them on fire. The tree, as if sensing mortal danger, shot out tentacles towards the fires, but instantly retracted them back. Half an hour later, in a large area, the lower branches and the thin trunks that supported them began to crackle and smoke. The burning monster emitted a terrible stench. Then the flames easily ran up the leaves...

By the end of the day the grueling work was almost finished. The bones of the victims were covered with a thick layer of ash and coals. The next day we started working on the central trunk. It turned out to be not very thick - only about 30 centimeters in diameter. It was cut down at ground level, then a large fire was laid out on the nest of the man-eating tree to burn out all the abomination without a trace. Apparently, the roots also gradually burned, as choking smoke began to emerge from many holes in the ground where the supporting trunks were attached. Of course, there was no final certainty that the predatory monster would not be reborn from some randomly surviving part...

The following year, the Tropical Institute in Brussels organized an expedition that actually discovered a “death clearing” with an incredible amount of bones belonging to a wide variety of animals. Scientists noted that the thick layer of bones allows us to judge that they accumulated here for hundreds of years. By the way, the human remains that the discoverers imagined and any other material traces of people’s presence in the “clearing of death” were not found. Either they really imagined it out of fear, or the aborigines, in accordance with their beliefs, carefully removed everything: buttons, buckles, remnants of clothing and weapons, shoes, native amulets and European crosses. Yes, but the human bones and skulls themselves, no, no, flashed among the remains of other living creatures.

So, in 1959, the Belgian expedition safely returned from the “glade of death”. But further... Over the years, several groups of hunters from the USA and Europe and two small scientific expeditions disappeared without a trace in these places. Their death was blamed, as usual, on pygmy cannibals, although competent scientists denied their existence. The mystery has still not been solved because no one else has been able to discover a living man-eating tree.

Vampire trees

For the first time, amateur naturalist George Dunstan encountered a vampire plant more than 100 years ago. This happened in Nicaragua, where this monster, which the Miskito Indians call the “snake tree,” trapped a naturalist’s dog in its branches and drank all her blood.

Much later, a similar case was observed by American traveler Steve Spike in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains in Mexico. A large bird sat on a branch of a vampire tree, and it, like a snake, wrapped itself around the victim and began to squeeze, greedily absorbing the protruding blood. Then the rings unclenched, and the vampire tree dropped the bird’s corpse, squeezed out like a lemon, to the ground. Spike decided to test the green monster's reaction for himself. He touched his hand to one of the lower branches, which turned out to be flexible, like a vine. In the blink of an eye, she latched onto her palm so tightly that the unlucky researcher managed to pull his hand away with great difficulty, leaving a bloody abrasion on the skin.

Indirect confirmation of the existence of green vampires are the mysterious cases during the war between Paraguay and Bolivia in 1932-1935. Military operations often took place in the dry woodlands of the Gran Chaco. Here, under strange low trees unknown to botanists, emitting a strong aroma, corpses of people were often found. They were all wrapped in huge leaves. Local residents told the military that the unfortunate people were attracted to the tree by the smell of its flowers. It stunned them like a drug, after which the leaves wrapped themselves around the unconscious victim and sucked out their blood.

In 2001, Brazilian naturalist Mariano da Silva discovered a carnivorous palm-like tree that ate raw meat in a rainforest bordering Guyana. It lured sloths and monkeys with the sweet, intoxicating smell emitted by the leaves-fans at its top. Having inhaled it, the animal froze in a rosette of leaves that closed over the victim, so that it found itself inside a dense green cocoon. Moreover, the monkeys did not have time to make a sound, as if they were in a deep trance. Over the course of 3-4 days, the tree digested the prey and then dropped the cleanly “gnawed” bones to the ground.

Despite the evidence of travelers and naturalists who saw plant vampires and cannibals with their own eyes, scientists are in no hurry to admit their reality. This reflects the well-known inertia of scientific authorities. Meanwhile, there is nothing fantastic in their existence, since today smaller copies of green predators grow - insectivorous grasses.

According to some scientists, their carnivorous ancestors grew in abundance across the planet 3.5 million years ago. Moreover, they reached very respectable sizes, comparable to large representatives of the then fauna. Then, over the course of evolution, plant predators shredded them, just like those they hunted. As is known, during the development of the Earth, the climate changed least in the equatorial tropical zones. Therefore, the most ancient reptiles living on earth - crocodiles and turtles - were preserved there. The same thing quite possibly happened in the plant kingdom, which means that some ancient giant carnivorous trees could survive to this day.

What is the tree crying about?

People suffering from tropical fever are cured after one touch of it, and patients suffering from swelling of the legs, tuberculosis, and heart pain also receive relief. All these miracles are performed by an old tree - mahua, growing in a suburban garden of the capital of India, Delhi.
Several years ago, a gardener decided to cut down this tree. But after the first blow of the ax, a red liquid came out from under the bark, and from somewhere a sound was heard, similar to a dull voice. The gardener fled in horror, throwing his ax. And then he told everything to the owner of the garden. Soon rumors about the miracle tree spread far beyond the Indian capital. Crowds of sick and suffering besiege the garden gates every day.

Actually, talking and bleeding trees are not new at all. They were also mentioned by Ovid and Dante, based on eyewitness accounts, traditions and legends. In England, for example, people still remember the ancient oak tree that was toppled by a storm in 1883. He was considered half-human. When the wind broke the branches of the tree, it screamed and bled. Pilgrims stood for days at the mighty trunk, praying to the miracle tree for help and intercession from evil forces.

In the same England, a giant yew still grows today, which is believed to be at least 700 years old. The most amazing thing is that blood is constantly oozing from the deep hollow of the tree. And in Madagascar, eucalyptus grows, which also bleeds if its trunk is damaged. It is no coincidence that local residents consider the tree sacred, decorate it with colorful ribbons and worship it as a deity.

By the way, the French ambassador collected some red eucalyptus liquid and sent it to Paris for examination. Studies have shown that this liquid has nothing in common with either human or animal blood, or with the sap of an ordinary tree. The same is the case with the Delhi miracle and the English yew.

Ashes in flower pots

"An increasing number of houseplants, for some unknown reason, are suddenly igniting and burning to the ground, baffling botanists. At least 3,500 such cases were recorded in the United States last year alone

“We are not able to find the cause of this phenomenon,” admits botanist Kevin Dorman. — Science still cannot solve the problem of spontaneous combustion of people, and now plants have been added to this mystery.

The researchers found that the plants were kept away from fire and were not exposed to sunlight or heat treatment. In most cases, a pile of ash remained from the green spaces. The most incredible thing is that the fire did not harm the furniture or other objects in the room.

A typical case of spontaneous combustion of a plant occurred in the English town of Blyth (the London Daily Telegraph wrote about it). Carol Westgarth, 52, was at home when she noticed a 1.5-metre tall yucca tree begin to smoke. While she called the fire brigade, only smoldering coals remained from the yucca. There was no electrical wiring in the room and no one was smoking in the room, a fire department spokesman confirmed.

The only thing that experts have found is that some plants are more prone to spontaneous combustion than others. We are talking, in particular, about African violets and hydrangeas. Some scientists believe that spontaneous combustion of plants has something to do with global warming and the loss of the Earth's protective ozone layer. According to Dorman, it is possible that levels of ultraviolet radiation are now so high that some delicate plants are overdosing on the sun's rays. They are unable to absorb this energy and... ignite. And this mystery of spontaneous combustion makes them similar to us - people.

Singing tree

American geneticist Willard Stop, working in one of the laboratories in Tennessee, created the world's first... singing tree. He hopes that soon the singing poplars of his selection will appear in all US nurseries.

“This is, of course, not the Viennese boys’ choir, but if you listen closely, you will hear a soft melody and even be able to distinguish the words,” Stop told reporters.

When he began his work in 1989, he had no idea about creating a singing tree. The geneticist was trying to determine whether, by transplanting human genes into plant cells, it was possible to transfer any human characteristics to the latter.

“The first experiments ended in complete failure,” says Stop. “But as time passed, something curious arose. For example, one of the plants we created developed human hair. I was very pleased with the results. But one day one of my friends asked me: can we create a tree with human eyes or a brain? At first, this idea seemed too incredible and contrary to moral standards to me. However, the desire to create something completely unusual won out, and I decided to grow a tree that could speak.

Doctor Ostanovy received the first batch of unusual plants in 2005. Unlike ordinary poplars, this one has thin vocal cords running along the entire length of the trunk under the bark. Of course, a tree does not have lungs or a brain, so it is not capable of speaking on its own, but it can reproduce what you yourself tell it. The trunk will pick up the sound and its vocal cords will begin to vibrate, repeating the words the tree just heard.

The scientist has already grown 25 thousand of these poplars, and as soon as he receives official permission to sell them, many Americans will apparently be able to plant entire choirs of trees similar to different voices near their homes.

This incident is surprising in itself, but even more surprising is the thought it suggests. If singing, thinking, talking, etc. plants can be created in a genetics laboratory, then they could appear themselves in the greatest genetic laboratory - in the laboratory of Mother Nature. Perhaps J. Tolkien, who in his epic “The Lord of the Rings” invented intelligent ents and tree-men walking the earth, was not such an inventor after all?..

In the summer of 1957, a funny news appeared in a respected German newspaper: “A predator tree has been found in Central Africa that devours birds, animals and people.” Naturally, the message immediately became the subject of lively discussions. Some refused to believe it and called the news a newspaper duck. Others, relying on myths and legends that repeatedly told about plant monsters feeding on the blood and flesh of animals and people, argued that the existence of a predator tree was quite possible.

In the end, all eyes turned to the man who provided sensational information and photographs to the newspapermen. He was the German biologist Klaus von Schwimmer. On the street, in a store, in a coffee shop, people continually pestered him with questions. The scientist had no choice but to tell in detail about all the vicissitudes of his dangerous journey to the heart of Central Africa.

Expedition to Mujang

In certain circles, or more precisely, among gambling adventurers and safari lovers, there have long been rumors about a strange place in the upper reaches of the Capombo River in Central Africa: they say it is better to avoid it. All this looked rather strange, because there, not far from the town of Mujanga, in the foothill jungle there was a lot of game, and the small population was reputed to be very hospitable... And, nevertheless, expeditions that went up and down the neighboring areas rarely visited there. The surroundings of Mujang, or rather, the unspoken taboo on visiting them, piqued the curiosity of one businessman from Germany. His advanced years did not allow him to go on a risky journey himself, and therefore he decided to equip an expedition and send it into the forbidden jungle.

Thanks to his reputation as an experienced traveler, hunter and researcher of little-studied animals, Klaus von Schwimmer came to the attention of a businessman. It was difficult to imagine a better candidate. After some persuasion, Klaus agreed to go to Africa. Under the command of von Schwimmer there were 25 people: 5 white and 20 black porters, led by the headman, an experienced hunter from the Baroste tribe.

Fragrance trap

On the fourth day of the journey, the morning breeze brought a thick spicy smell, completely unusual for the tropical forest. Experienced travelers were wary: anything unusual means danger.

After exchanging short remarks, they realized that everyone perceives smell differently. Klaus insisted that it was Camembert: he would not confuse the aroma of his favorite cheese with anything. Joe believed that this was the roast game that he adored more than anything in the world. Bow kept saying it was strawberry.

However, what exactly it smelled of was not so important. The main thing is that the aroma was mesmerizing, persistently beckoning into the depths of the wilds. Talking uncertainly, people moved in the direction from which the intoxicating call was coming.

The jungle thinned out, and soon the travelers came to a large clearing. Round, at least 100 meters in diameter, it was covered with a carpet of short grass, thinning towards the center - there was a lone tree there. Or rather, a grove tree, similar to an Indian banyan tree: in addition to the main trunk, there were several more thin ones. Numerous vines hung from the branches of the tree. The smell intensified sharply. All feelings were erased, thoughts disappeared, except for one: “Forward, to the unusual tree.”

In a daze, the men stepped onto the strange lawn. The persistent call gave rise to internal resistance, but the feeling of self-preservation fell silent, as if someone ordered: “Go to sleep.”

Beneath the spreading canopy, the soil was uneven and white. Klaus brought the binoculars to his eyes... and woke up: “Get back! the smell is a trap... This tree is a predator! It lured us in! Look: there are bones and skulls all around! Let's quickly run away!"

A desperate cry had no effect; I had to give my companions a couple of slaps on the back of the head. Having retreated to a safe distance, the men finally figured out to close their nostrils and went to explore the dangerous clearing.

Voracious vines

“Look, a human skeleton... Another one! And skulls... We need to check what happens when prey approaches the tree. I’ll get the bait,” with these words Klaus took the rifle off his shoulder and looked up. Vultures circled lazily in the sky. A shot - and a couple of minutes later he was already dragging the limp bird by the wing. He spun it over his head and threw it into a tree. The reaction followed immediately: the vines hanging from the branches moved, stretched, and soon the carcass of the vulture disappeared into the swarming crown of the tree.

Further events unfolded rapidly. The hunters, who did not expect that the tree was dangerous even at a distance, watched what was happening as if spellbound. But then one of the tree vines shot out and instantly, like a lasso, wrapped itself around Joe. The friends were not taken aback, they cut off the vine with a machete, freed their friend and trudged back to the camp.

But, having moved quite a bit away from the ominous place, they heard a heart-rending scream. They rushed back - in the center of the damned clearing a huge lump of vines was moving. Inside, the shoulders and head of a black man, stunned with horror, could be seen. He still tried to resist, but it was clear that he could not escape from the death trap. After a few minutes the screams died down. More and more vines crawled down from above...

At this point they decided to tell the natives everything, then they would help deal with the plant predator. Klaus still tried to object, insisting on a “unique chance for science,” but the others didn’t even listen—the tree had to be destroyed, and immediately.

We set out at dawn. Having carefully plugged their nostrils with balls of tree resin, they dragged dry dead wood into the terrible clearing until noon. Finally, the first armful was set on fire, and the burning shells flew into the tree. As if in agony, it shot out tentacles towards the fires, but, scorched, they immediately burned out. The burning monster emitted a foul stench.

By the end of the day the grueling struggle was over. A thick layer of ash covered the clearing. The next day, having marked the location of the green monster on the map, the expedition set out on the return journey.

There were countless unanswered questions. Was it only aromatic illusions that attracted victims to the tree? Or was it a more complex, perhaps symbiotic organism that issued a telepathic call, and the smell was just an additional signal, a means of psychic attack? In this regard, the selectivity of smell for different people is curious. Why did some people see the smell of their favorite cheese, while others smelled of fried meat? Alas, the terrible mystery remained unsolved.

Judicial case

The very first reports of the discovery of a man-eating tree caused a flurry of angry criticism among scientists. Everyone took up arms against von Schwimmer: conservative zoologists, botanists, and experts on tropical Africa. Some questioned the very existence of the tree and accused the scientist of lying and falsification. Others say that he destroyed God’s unique creation. The matter went to trial. But von Schwimmer's companions confirmed his story under oath. Professor de Groost from Cape Town went to Northern Rhodesia and, with the help of the authorities, tracked down several natives from Schwimmer's expedition. They repeated his story word for word. A year later, the Brussels Tropical Institute organized an expedition that managed to discover a clearing of death with an incredible amount of animal and human bones. This was the strongest evidence of the existence of a killer tree.

Space alien?

After the infamous voyage, von Schwimmer more than once received tempting offers from private individuals to lead a well-equipped expedition with the full support of local authorities. But he invariably refused. The sensationalism of the topic gradually faded, debates and discussions faded away, and the octopus tree was forgotten. And local authorities vetoed visiting that area. Entry there was denied to everyone - hunters, scientists, and tourists. The existence of the predatory tree described by von Schwimmeroy did not raise doubts only among ufologists. They immediately identified him as an alien from another planet. Of course, it did not migrate to Earth, but was brought accidentally in the form of a spore by interstellar ships. Therefore, today cryptobiologists do not lose hope of finding such a creature hiding in some forgotten corner of the planet.

Charles Darwin, in a letter to a friend, called the sudden appearance of flowering plants in fossil rocks "the terrible mystery of evolution."

The first flowering plants bloomed at the height of the era of dinosaurs, in the first half of the Cretaceous period - about 140 million years ago. And look what harmless flowers have achieved in the process of evolution!

Cute creatures not only harmlessly decorate our flower beds, but also cleverly use insects for their own pollination - for which some plants (for example, ofris) have even learned to take on the appearance of female bees. Others, like real predators, devour insects. But if these buttercup flowers have learned to eat small things, then maybe some large species of carnivorous plants and people would not mind gobbling them up? Are you laughing? But in vain. This is what the English magazine Illustrated London News reported on August 21, 1892.

Research Note by Professor Andrew Wilson

“It so happened that the naturalist Mr. Dunstan was collecting plants for a herbarium on the ponds that surround Lake Nicaraguan, and suddenly he heard the desperate howl of his dog. The naturalist hurried to where the sounds were coming from. How surprised he was to find his four-legged friend caught in a trap of rope-like roots, branches and stems. It was a grape-like plant with bare, intertwined, dark-colored stems covered in a thick layer of viscous juice oozing from its pores. Drawing a knife, Mr. Dunstan tried to free the unfortunate animal. He succeeded with great difficulty. It was not easy to cut through the tough, muscle-like stems of the strange plant predator. When the dog was finally rescued from captivity, Dunstan saw that the unfortunate dog was bloody and his whole body was covered with ulcers. The animal died from loss of blood that was sucked out of it! When Dunstan chopped the grapes, they wriggled around his hand as if alive. I had to use remarkable force to free myself from the stems clinging to him, which left blisters and red, inflamed spots on the skin. This tree, if I may say so, was well known to the locals. The appetites of this plant are varied and insatiable - in five minutes it is capable of sucking all the moisture from a large piece of meat, then throwing it away in the same way as spiders throw used flies out of their web...
Well, how do you like the story? Of course, science fiction writers of the late 19th century did not write such things. But, on the other hand, Professor Andrew Wilson did not pretend to be a writer.

In 1924, former Michigan Governor Chase Salmon Osborne published a book entitled Madagascar - Land of the Man-Eating Tree. Osborn learned about this cannibal from a letter written in 1878 by the German traveler Karl Lich to Polish professor Fredlovsky, published in several newspapers and magazines.

So, Lich and his companion Hendrik met in Madagascar when they went together on an expedition to the wild Mkodos tribe. They were invited to take part in a local sacrifice ritual. The explorers, accompanied by savages, went deep into the forest and stopped on the bank of a river where a strange tree grew. Its trunk reached a height of two and a half meters. The tree was brown in color and shaped like a pineapple. Eight huge leaves grew from its top and fell to the ground. The inside of each leaf was covered with thorns. Our tree top contained sticky nectar. Also coming from the top were long tendrils sticking out in all directions, and there were six thin snake-like vines fluttering in the wind.

A young woman was sacrificed. The Mkodos led her to a tree trunk and forced her to climb it. Then the savages began to demand that she drink the liquid from the cup-like top. The girl squatted down. But as soon as her lips touched the nectar, the wriggling stems, like snakes, suddenly came to life and wrapped themselves around the legs and body of the unfortunate woman. The two-meter antennae, which had previously been sticking out in different directions, also quickly shot up, tightly grasping the victim. After this, the large leaves that had previously been lying on the ground began to move. They also rose and, like thick blinds, finally slammed shut over the woman’s crumpled body. At the same time, the victim was squeezed so tightly that blood, mixed with the sweet sap of the killer tree, flowed down the tree trunk.
Mkodos rushed to the trunk to lick and collect this sacrificial “kvasir”. Because of the liquid, the savages went into a frenzy and immediately staged a terrible orgy, at the sight of which Lich and Hendrik, feeling awkward, left. Both researchers, however, continued to observe the terrible tree. For ten days the leaves remained raised and closed. After this, they returned and found the tree in its normal state. The only reminder of the recent sacrificial meal was a white skull lying at the foot of the tree.

Crookshanks Brothers

The former governor of Michigan, Mr. Chase Osborne, was so shocked by what Karl Lich described that he himself went to Madagascar in search of this plant monster. He traveled all over the island and constantly heard stories from local residents about the man-eating tree. All Madagascar tribes knew about him. Even some European missionaries assured that it really exists. But, nevertheless, Osborne returned to America empty-handed - no one could show him a living cannibal. But this failure did not dissuade the researcher. Moreover, in defense of the unusual fact, according to Osborne, was the fact that since ancient times Madagascar was called the Land of the Man-Eating Tree. He also describes a tree similar to the Madagascar cannibal, only smaller in size, which he saw in London at an agricultural exhibition. Osborne says the plant eats large insects and even small mammals. Mice, for example, are attracted by the smell of a flower, into which they enter through a hole. After the animal penetrates the clever hole-trap, the petals close tightly. Soon the mouse dies, and a liquid resembling stomach juice digests it. This unusual carnivorous plant is found in tropical regions of India. Osborne writes that he was never qualified by botanists.

Another naturalist, Mariano da Silva, described a tree he discovered in 1970 in a forest between Brazil and Guyana. According to him, it killed monkeys, which it lured with the special smell of its fruits. When the naive animal climbed its branches for prey, the leaves of the tree wrapped around its body in a dense cocoon. It digested its prey for several days, and then dumped what was left of it on the ground.

In South Africa there is a tree that the Zulus call umdglebi - "sinister." It emits deadly carbonic acid gas, poisoning everything in the area. It extracts gas from the soil. Anyone who inhales it experiences a terrible headache. Death occurs in the coming hours.

In the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch botanist Rumphius, who lived in Malaysia, wrote: “Neither bushes nor grass grow under this tree - not only under its crown, but even at the distance of a thrown stone. The soil underneath is barren, dark and as if charred. The toxicity of the tree is such that birds landing on its branches, having swallowed the poisoned air, fall to the ground and die. Their feathers cover the soil. Not a single person would dare approach him unless his arms, legs and head were protected by a thick cloth. Its branches are so pungent that when they were sent to me in a strong bamboo container, I felt a slight tingling sensation when I placed my hand on the container.”

Epilogue

The information, you see, is impressive. The question arises: why is it that modern botanists know nothing about cannibal plants? However, Andrew Wilson does not exclude the possibility of falsification of this information, although he says that the story of Dunstan’s “grapes” looks very real. But the point is that a realistic depiction of something does not mean it exists. Man differs from his smaller brothers in that he lies without blushing. Colin Wilson's science fiction novel "The World of Spiders" also depicts a man-eating tree in a very realistic way, attracting travelers who sit under its trunk and fall asleep under the influence of the aroma of the leaves.

It is also alarming that all this information came from the second half of the 19th century, during the era of Jules Verne, when the science fiction genre appeared and flourished. Many fantastic works of that time still remain unsurpassed.

Although, if the images of Lich and Hendrik are as literary as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, then why did the author remain unknown? Why write if you don't get paid? Moreover, Karl Lich’s letter did not appear in a yellow newspaper, but was addressed to a professor, who published this message.
The information that Chase Osborne collected in Madagascar is also noteworthy. Frequent encounters with such plants at the end of the 19th century can be explained by the fact that at that time carnivorous trees were still found in lands undeveloped by Europeans, but in the 20th century they were cut down by both natives and colonists. Of course, these are just assumptions, but who knows, maybe some of the travelers who disappeared in the jungle became victims of more than just wild animals?

In the border province of Northern Rhodesia there is a remote region of Barotseland, inhabited by the Bantu people of the same name. This vast territory, home to only 250 thousand blacks, is covered with impenetrable jungle and therefore in the early 50s of the 20th century still remained practically unexplored.

Moreover, there was one place in the upper reaches of the Kalombo River, which has long been notorious among the Barotse. And after several European hunters who went on safari from the town of Mujanga disappeared without a trace, adventurers preferred to avoid this area. There were rumors that they had become victims of some kind of monster that ate people, which was found in those places. It was they who sparked the curiosity of one elderly businessman from Germany named Kaufmann. Due to his venerable age, he himself could no longer go on a dangerous expedition and therefore decided to send a person who would become his eyes and upon his return tell in detail about what he saw. Kaufman chose Klaus von Schwimmer, who had a reputation as an experienced traveler, hunter and, most importantly, a zoologist specializing in the study of little-studied animals. After all, they had to look for an unknown ferocious predator.

After some persuasion, Shwimmer agreed to go to Africa. Since the sponsor of the expedition, Kaufman, did not spare money, in Lusaka, the administrative center of the British colony, Klaus hired two local hunters - the Englishmen John and Ted, as well as twenty black porters from the Kwanga tribe, led by their leader Aberima, who spoke a little English and knew Sikololo, the Barotse language. In short, one could count on the search for the monster to be successful. True, the businessman, who dreamed of becoming famous as the discoverer of a monster unknown to science, set one condition: without his consent, Shvim-

Mer should not report anything in the press about his expedition, even if he manages to shoot or at least photograph a bloodthirsty beast. Therefore, upon his return, he remained silent until in 1958 the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper published a sensational message: “A man-eating tree has been discovered in the jungles of Central Africa!” This news aroused great interest not only among the general public, but also in the scientific world.

Noisy debates began: some considered the man-eating tree a fiction, others insisted on its reality, citing stories of travelers and missionaries about plant monsters that feed on the blood and flesh of animals and people. Eventually, the journalists found out that German naturalist Klaus von Schwimmer, who had returned from a trip to Central Africa, was behind the sensational news. He was literally under siege, and with the permission of the expedition's sponsor, Schwimmer spoke in detail about it.

The travelers came to the mysterious area in the upper reaches of the Kalombo River from the town of Mujanga. Although it was the dry season, it was very difficult to make a path in the wild jungle. Therefore, they reached the final point of the route only on the fifth day. They cleared a small area in the thickets, set up a camp, after which Schwimmer, along with two white assistants, went on reconnaissance to decide how to search for the unknown beast. Trying not to make noise, they had already moved quite a distance away from the camp when the breeze carried a thick, spicy smell, completely unusual for a tropical forest. Experienced travelers were wary: in the jungle, everything unusual can be fraught with danger. Moreover, although Klaus, John and Ted perceived the strange smell differently, it was pleasant and irresistibly attracted all three of them. After briefly conferring, they moved in the direction from which the intoxicating aroma emanated.

Soon the jungle began to thin out, and people came to a large round clearing at least 80-100 meters in diameter. It was covered with short grass, and in the center stood a lone tree. More precisely, a grove tree similar to an Indian banyan epiphyte: in addition to the main trunk, the lush crown was supported by numerous branches as thick as an arm. A green canopy of vines hung from the branches on all sides. As soon as Klaus and his companions stepped into the clearing, a wave of intoxicating smell washed over them. All three of them felt dizzy at once, their thoughts began to get confused, the sense of self-preservation disappeared. But there was an irresistible desire to approach the unusual tree.

Overcoming instinctive internal resistance, John and Ted had already taken their first steps across the clearing when Klaus, who had lagged behind them, with a desperate effort of will, got rid of the mysterious obsession. He raised the binoculars to his eyes and shouted:

Back! This is a trap! The tree lures us with its smell! Beneath it are the bones of the victims!

His desperate cry made John and Ted stop. However, both continued, without looking away, to look at the green predator, ready to move towards him again. Klaus had to give them a couple of slaps before they looked at him meaningfully. And only after a few minutes the British gradually came to their senses.

After exchanging impressions, the hunters came to the conclusion that it was all about the smell emanating from the tree, which acts like a powerful drug. Therefore, before getting closer to examine the unusual plant, it was necessary to protect ourselves from it. Someone had chewing gum in their pocket, which they used to seal their nostrils. Then they carefully moved towards the center of the clearing, agreeing to immediately shout if anyone smelled a dangerous aroma. We stopped about five meters from the tree, from where the carpet of bones that covered the ground underneath was clearly visible. On top lay two human skeletons. Klaus walked around the trunks pressed together and discovered three more human skulls protruding from the remains of small animals. There was no doubt that these were all the bones of victims of the predatory tree. But how does it catch and gnaw them, having neither claws nor teeth?

To find out, they decided to throw some bait at him and see what happened to it. Ted walked to the edge of the clearing, raised his rifle and shot one of the vultures circling in the sky. Then, approaching about three meters to the tree, he threw the still warm bird at it with all his might. The monster's reaction was immediate. When the carcass crashed into a curtain of vines hanging from the branches, they came to life and wrapped themselves around the fife, preventing it from falling to the ground.

Then something happened that no one expected. The ball of vines was still swaying in the air, when suddenly one of the branches “shot” a flexible green ribbon towards Ted, who was standing closest. Of course, the vine could not have eyes, but in some incomprehensible way it wrapped itself in a tight loop around the neck. Fortunately, his comrades were on their guard and cut off the elastic tentacle that had tensed like a string. Obviously, the predator tree lived with the vines as a single organism, and they, like aerial roots, not only supplied it with additional nutrition, but also served as a kind of sensory organ, something like eyes. Right at the edge of the clearing, the hunters held a military council. After everything that happened, Schwimmer came to the conclusion that there was no point in looking for an unknown beast: it simply does not exist. And vague rumors about some kind of bloodthirsty monster devouring people are most likely generated by a carnivorous plant. Perhaps the Barotse know about it, but are silent because the carnivorous tree is sacred to them or associated with some kind of taboo. John and Ted agreed with Klaus. They decided not to tell the black porters, although they were from a different tribe, about the cannibal monster. They simply gave the command to break up the camp and return back to Mujanga. Before leaving the terrible clearing, Schwimmer carefully calculated its location using a compass and map and wrote down the coordinates.

The hunters had walked through the forest quite a bit when a desperate cry was heard from the clearing. Without saying a word, they rushed back, but it was too late. From the edge of the forest they saw a terrible sight. Under the man-eating tree, a huge green clump of vines was moving, from which protruded the shoulders and head of a young black porter, writhing in pain. The hunters could not come to his aid because they had thrown away the chewing gum plugs. However, they still would not have time to free him. The poor fellow was still breathing, but he was already in agony. Meanwhile, more and more snake-vines were reaching towards the victim from above.

It would be too risky to hide the circumstances of their comrade’s death from the porters. They might suspect the whites of this, and then expect trouble. So Schwimmer explained how it happened. Chief Aberima listened to him with an impenetrable face, and then said that the deceased was to blame. Without telling anyone, he secretly went after the white bwanas to find out with what witchcraft they would use to track down the mysterious beast. But regarding the man-eating tree, the leader was adamant: Kwang customs require the destruction of the enemy who shed the blood of their fellow tribesman. Schwimmer tried to object, talking about “the most valuable specimen of a carnivorous plant for science,” but no one, not even the British, agreed with him. After all, they do not have the opportunity to post guards near the clearing. This means there may be new victims. The next morning, the “punitive expedition” left the camp in full force. Having carefully sealed their nostrils with balls of tree resin, both whites and blacks spent two hours dragging dead wood into the clearing and laying it in heaps around the cannibal tree. Then, without getting too close to him, so as not to be attacked by the vines, they began to set fire to armfuls of dry branches and throw them at the “enemy,” gradually tightening the circle.

The tree tried to resist, “shooting” its vines towards the people, but the tentacles scorched by the fire immediately curled up. In the end, the entire carnivorous plant turned into a huge blazing fire. When it burned down, only a thick layer of ash remained in place of the monster, covering the bones of its victims.

Klaus von Schwimmer's report provoked fierce criticism from botanists, zoologists, experts on tropical Africa, and indeed many pundits in general. A criminal case was opened against him on charges of blatant falsification. But two Englishmen, Schwimmer's companions, sent sworn statements that fully confirmed what they had reported. And Professor de Groost from Cape Town was not too lazy to go to Northern Rhodesia and, with the help of the authorities, found several blacks from the Kwanga tribe who participated in Schwimmer’s expedition. They also confirmed what the German said. A year later, the Brussels Tropical Institute organized an expedition to Northern Rhodesia, which managed to discover a “clearing of death” with a huge number of bones of various animals and human remains. This became the most compelling and, unfortunately, the last evidence of the existence of a predatory tree. Soon after this, the colonial authorities declared a large area in the upper reaches of the Kalombo River closed to European hunters and foreigners in general.

The scientific world soon forgot about the “African cannibal”, considering this topic not worthy of serious research. But cryptozoologists did not agree with this. It is unlikely, they say, that Nature would create such a plant in a single copy. Therefore, in some God-forsaken corners of our planet, other monsters like him may well exist.

Have you ever heard of man-eating trees? You've probably heard or read something at some point. Do you believe such stories? Surely not. In the 19th century, you could often read in newspapers about tropical trees eating animals and even, oh my God, just imagine, not disdaining people.

Everything secret is fraught with danger

How true are the stories about man-eating trees, what fueled the imagination of the storytellers? After all, knowing that there are plants that eat insects, can we confidently say “that can’t be true” when it comes to predatory trees?

By the beginning of the 19th century, almost all new lands had already been discovered, but their flora and fauna remained poorly studied. As you know, everything secret excites the imagination and is fraught with a threat... “Reliable” reports about man-eating plants began to appear in newspapers, but the storytellers had no facts confirming the existence of such species. In 1876 K.A. Timiryazev very accurately noted: “General attention can only be attracted by some curiosity like that newspaper duck about a carnivorous plant devouring living people, which recently appeared on the pages of many foreign and our newspapers and even ended up in special publications.”

And indeed, despite the fact that scientists categorically denied such phenomena, “general attention” followed with undying interest the publications in the press, which was in no hurry to abandon such fertile material.

- Can't be! - Alice exclaimed. – I can’t believe this! - Can not? – repeated the Queen with pity. – Try again: take a deep breath and close your eyes.

L. Carroll. Alice in the Wonderland

Science and fiction

The patriarch of natural science, Charles Darwin himself, was seriously interested in carnivorous flora. “This is a wonderful plant, or rather, an unusually intelligent animal. I will defend my sundew until my last breath,” he once said in personal correspondence to the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. And even ten years later, Darwin would write with unabated fervor that “there is no limit to this topic,” excitedly continuing to study the mysterious insect lovers.

The result of painstaking research was the work “Insectivorous Plants,” published in 1875 and lovingly provided with detailed comments and descriptions of inventive and varied experiments. Darwin arranged insectivorous plants in an evolutionary series according to the degree of increasing specialized adaptation, but in everything that had to do with the paradoxical history of their development, he was cautiously laconic...

In 1894, H.G. Wells made an orchid the main character of one of his science fiction stories, giving the harmless flower the features of a bloodthirsty vampire: “...He lay on his back at the foot of a strange orchid. The tentacle-like aerial roots no longer hung freely in the air; having come together, they formed a kind of ball of gray rope, the ends of which tightly clasped his chin, neck and arms.

...Screaming something inarticulate, she (the housekeeper - author's note) rushed to him and tried to tear off the leech-like suction cups. She broke several tentacles and red juice dripped from them. The overwhelming smell of the flowers made her dizzy. She pulled tight ropes, and everything around floated as if in a fog ... "

Madagascar - the land of the man-eating tree

Somewhere very, very far away, in a remote area of ​​the island of Madagascar, grows a mysterious tepe - a sacred tree of the Mkodo tribe. The height of the tepe is about 2.5 m, the entire thick dark trunk is covered with hard thorns, its shape resembles a pineapple. Eight huge, as if withered leaves descend to the ground, on the inside they are dotted with many hooks. From the top of the tree extend two peculiar leaves, facing each other and resembling a bowl. Thin green tendrils extend upward from the center of the bowl, and viscous dark red juice slowly flows down the trunk. Six white vines, like snakes, continuously wriggle around the trunk...

While living among the tribe, the German missionary Karl Lihe learned about the sacred tepe tree, the mere mention of which would make any Mkodo tremble. He had to use many tricks and tricks to gain the trust of the savages, and only then was the stranger allowed to be present at the performance of the ritual rite at the sacred tree.

In the rituals of Mkodo Tepe plays a central role. Periodically, the natives sacrifice one of their fellow tribesmen. The sacrifice ceremony begins with a ritual dance, during which the next victim is selected, brought to a tree trunk and forced to climb it. The unfortunate person must drink the juice from the cup-like top. As soon as the lips touch the nectar, the stems, like snakes, come to life and begin to make circles, approaching the person and entwining his legs. Meanwhile, the victim, having drunk the nectar, falls into a trance-like state, her body becomes sluggish and pliable. The two-meter antennae, which previously stuck out in different directions, also quickly rise up and tightly grasp the prey. As soon as it finds itself in a dense ball of flexible and durable tentacles attached to it, the leaves that were previously lying on the ground begin to move - they rise and, like thick blinds, slam shut. At the same time, the victim is squeezed so tightly that blood flows down the tree trunk, mixing with the sap of the tree. The dying cry of the unfortunate man merges with the cries of the Mkodo who have gone into ecstasy and is a signal for the start of the “feast”. All participants in the ceremony, ahead of each other, rush to the trunk to lick the drink flowing from the trunk and fall into a trance... For ten days, the leaves of the tree remain raised and closed, and then slowly open and, sinking to the ground, take their usual position. The only reminder of the recent sacrifice is the white skull lying at the foot of the tree.

In 1880, an American magazine New York World publishes an article about the “cannibal pineapple”, this story immediately becomes a sensation and is picked up by a number of other publications from different countries. Former Michigan Governor Chase Salmon Osborne is so impressed that he travels to Madagascar himself. The search for Tepe continues for more than two years, but without success. Nevertheless, in 1924, he published a book entitled “Madagascar - the land of the man-eating tree,” in which he fully cites the letter of the German traveler.

INFor many centuries, Madagascar has been called “the land of the man-eating tree.” However, scientistsNotwere able to obtain samples of this unique monster.

Sacred tree of the Zulu

“In South Africa there is a tree which the Zulus call umdglebi ( umdhlebi) - “sinister”. Umdglebi extracts carbonic acid gas from the soil and is constantly surrounded by a toxic cloud. The person who inhales it experiences a terrible headache, and death occurs in the next few hours. You can only approach this tree from the windward side when a strong wind is blowing. On such days, the aborigines organize sacred rituals near the umdglebi, making another sacrifice to him. Its fruits (large black pods with red tips) are believed to cure poisoning and are collected by the Zulus during rituals.” Such a note, authored by the missionary J. W. Parker, appeared in the journal Nature on November 2, 1882.

Living Daggers

In one of the issues " Sea and land" In 1887, one could read a report by J. W. Buell about the ya-te-veo trees: "They have a thick short trunk, from the top of which thorn-like shoots with dagger-shaped thorns at the edges hang down to the ground. At the slightest movement near the tree, the shoots rise sharply, wrap around the victim, pressing it to the trunk, pierce it with thorns and squeeze it. The blood that flows out is quickly absorbed through the porous bark.”

After returning from the tropical forests of Central America, the head of the ethnographic expedition, Kayleb Enders, told a similar story: “We have heard more than once from the Indians that in the thick of the forests there are carnivorous plants that supposedly feed on living creatures. One of them looks like a large thick cactus, studded with sharp dagger leaves. As soon as an unwary person comes close, the green “knives” instantly clamp down on him and pierce his body.”

Kyleb Enders, leader of an ethnographic expedition to Central America: “We have heard more than once from the Indians that in the thick of the forests there are carnivorous plants that supposedly feed on living creatures.”

Nicaraguan snake tree

Amateur naturalist George Dunstan, accompanied by a small pinscher named Joy, wandered through the rainforest of Nicaragua in search of rare plants. Hearing the desperate howl of his dog, the owner hurried towards the sound and saw the following. The dog was entwined with many aerial roots hanging from a low tree, and his neck was pinned There was a black flexible appendage wrapped around it, which sucked blood from the punctured skin. With great difficulty, Dunstan managed to cut the plant network with a knife and rescue Joy. In a nearby village, where the naturalist told the Indians about the attack, he was told that animals that fall into a trap in such a tree-snake die within five minutes from loss of blood, and his dog was simply lucky to survive. Professor Andrew Wilson told the world about this story, whose scientific note was published by an English newspaper Illustrated London News, published in August 1892.

Tree-grove

In 1958, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published a sensational report under the headline “A man-eating tree has been discovered in the jungles of Central Africa!” In Northern Rhodesia (the territory of modern Zambia) there is a very inaccessible region of Barotseland, most of which is impenetrable jungle and is notorious among the locals. There, experienced and well-equipped European hunters disappeared without a trace - there were rumors that some kind of monster was devouring people. An expedition is being sent to explore the area, headed by hunter and biologist Klaus von Schwimmer. He hires two English hunters and 20 native porters from the Barotse tribe. Having ascended the river, travelers go deeper into the jungle. Suddenly, unexpectedly, they sense an unusual, attractive aroma, and each has their own association. The only thing that coincides is that everyone likes the smell and seems to call to the source. Intrigued, the hunters come to a large (about 70 m in diameter) clearing, covered with a dense carpet of short grass, gradually disappearing towards the center. There, in a ring of gray-yellow earth, a grove of trees similar to the Indian banyan tree grows: in addition to the massive main trunk, the giant’s crown is supported by numerous branches as thick as an arm, and many vines hang from the branches. The crown is wide, with dense dark shiny leaves, about 30 m in diameter.

In the clearing, the smell intensifies and an irresistible desire arises to approach the unusual plant. The British are already taking a few steps towards the tree when Schwimmer stops them - through binoculars he sees numerous bones scattered around the tree. Quickly coming to the conclusion that it’s all about the smell, which acts like a powerful drug, the hunters plug their nostrils with sulfur and approach the monster. Clean, as if polished bones literally cover the ground under the tree with a carpet, and on top lie two human skulls. Approaching about three meters to the tree, Klaus throws the shot, still warm vulture at it with all his might. The predator's reaction is lightning fast! As soon as the carcass crashes into the curtain of vines, they immediately come to life and wrap themselves around the bird, preventing it from falling to the ground.

Having marked the exact coordinates of the cannibal on the map, the members of the expedition do not have time to move far when they hear a wild scream from the direction of the clearing. Returning, they see a huge clump of vines moving under the tree, from which stick out the shoulders and head of a black porter writhing in agony.

The natives decided to burn the tree - the customs of their tribe require the destruction of the one who shed the blood of their fellow tribesman. The next morning, having covered their nostrils with balls of resin, the natives collected dead wood and, setting fire to armfuls of dry branches, began to throw them at the enemy, gradually narrowing the circle. When the fire burned out, only a thick layer of ash remained in its place, covering the melted bones of the victims.

In 1959, the Brussels Tropical Institute organized a new expedition to Rhodesia, which actually discovered a “clearing of death” with a huge number of bones of various animals and human remains. Scientists have found that they accumulated here for hundreds of years.

There are about 630 species of carnivorous plants today, and according to evolutionary theory they may have had a rich past. Some scientists believe that carnivorous ancestors grew in abundance in the Pleistocene 2.5 million years ago and reached sizes commensurate with the giant fauna of that time. Over the course of evolution, these plant predators chopped up, just like those they hunted.

From the book of American dendrologist Edwin Menninger "Bizarre Trees":

“...During the war in the Chaco between Paraguay and Bolivia, corpses were often found under a certain tree - human skeletons wrapped in its huge leaves. Blossfeld, who lived for some time in Mato Grosso, specifically began to investigate these stories. He discovered that the plant in question was Philodendron bipinnatifidum, whose leaves actually reach a meter or more in length. Rumor has it that people were attracted to the tree by the strong scent of its flowers; this smell stunned them like a drug, after which the leaves wrapped themselves around the unconscious victim and sucked out his blood. The flowers really smell very strongly, but people were attracted to this tree in the sun-scorched Chaco desert, where only thorns grow, by its shadow and the sweet pulp of its fruits, edible, like the fruits of its related monstera ( Monstera deliciosa). However, there is no poison or narcotic substances in the flowers and fruits. The corpses under it belonged to wounded people or people dying of thirst, who took refuge in the shade of a tree, and the leaves, always falling to the ground, actually closed over them, but not in order to drink blood. According to Blossfeld, this legend still circulates in Brazil - it is too fascinating for the newspapers to give it up so easily.”

About carnivorous plants

Insectivorous plants became known in the 18th century. The first accurate botanical description of the Venus flytrap was made by the English naturalist John Ellis in a letter to Carl Linnaeus in 1769. Data on the evolution of insectivorous plants are extremely scarce due to the small number of fossil remains of the latter.