Since we now have some newbies who have not yet been exposed to the evolutionary glory that is Hydnora... (Underground parasites, mainly of of Euphorbias, only surface their weird meaty flowers, then produce an underground figlike fruit) - ThreadSky

nafnlaus.bsky.social • 104 days ago

Since we now have some newbies who have not yet been exposed to the evolutionary glory that is Hydnora...

(Underground parasites, mainly of of Euphorbias, only surface their weird meaty flowers, then produce an underground figlike fruit)

Comments

sophiafhc.bsky.social•104 days ago

I think I saw this movie and it did not end well.

nafnlaus.bsky.social•104 days ago

And when I say "meaty flowers", appearance-wise...

safabric.bsky.social•104 days ago

I thought these were shoes.

nafnlaus.bsky.social•104 days ago

Could inspire a new fashion trend ;)

safabric.bsky.social•104 days ago

They're basically just Pope Shoes. 😅😅

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_shoes

pawistik.bsky.social•104 days ago

That's amazing. I had no idea.

nafnlaus.bsky.social•104 days ago

Underground woody plants (geoxyles) are always cool - like, Lannea edulis (below) will just stick a bunch of "grapes" out of the ground ;) But Hydnora combines it with parasitism and super-alien-looking flowers :)

thelostmazer.bsky.social•104 days ago

Underground parasitic plants sound a lot like fungi. Sounds like a good undergrad compare/contrast activity

nafnlaus.bsky.social•104 days ago

There actually are plants that parasitize fungi! :)

https://bsky.app/profile/nafnlaus.bsky.social/post/3ks7zg6ehmc2b

blindcoyote.com•104 days ago

Every time I see them, this is all I can think of.

cinnamonwinter.bsky.social•104 days ago

c25kg.bsky.social•104 days ago

Whoa! Those look like some evil spawning cantaloupes. 👀

teslord.bsky.social•103 days ago

That's a cantaloupe

nafnlaus.bsky.social•103 days ago

They do make (varyingly) edible fruit. :) Underground of course !

There's even one H. triceps, that *flowers* underground. Only known dicot to do that. Hydnora is so delightfully weird. :)