Episode 36 Pop Culture and Plants!

We'll be talking about pop culture and plants.  That's right, we will be delving into the pop Culture of plants.  Poisonous plants, magical fruits, sentients, and many, many more. Is your favourite plant from a movie or TV mentioned?  And there is a quiz splattered throughout this ep.  Can you get 10 out of 10?  

Pics will be on Instagram! 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/weird-plants.html

 https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthier-you/2023/02/16/zombie-fungus-from-the-last-of-us-is-it-real

https://retrocrush.com/archives/185

 https://kinghorngardens.com/plants-in-pop-culture/

https://www.harrypotter.com/features/exploring-neville-longbottoms-love-of-herbology

https://www.harrypotter.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/wand-woods

https://druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-tree-lore/rowan

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Treebeard

https://littleshop.fandom.com/wiki/Audrey_II

https://fords.org/explore-the-world-of-carnivorous-plants-with-little-shop-of-horrors-and-the-u-s-botanic-%20garden/

https://animeawakening.substack.com/p/spring-is-here-our-favorite-plant

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28875517/

Transcript

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Hi, my name is Danny and I am a horticulturalist. Welcome to my little podcast, Leaves, Stems, and Roots.

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I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we are living. I would like to pay my respects to elders past and present. Episode 36. Pop culture and plants. Quote: To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow, Audrey Hepburn. Hello my dear leaflets. So the downloads of episode 32 was the largest I had ever had. This one was on Deadly Smelly and Huge Plants. It had a zippy headline, so I thought in Amongst My Ladies and Other More Gardening episodes, I'm going to have more of these bonuses. Thus today's bonus episode, Plants and Pop Culture. Hopefully we'll get the same excitement. My boy and I are watching one of those zombie TV shows with the handsome Englishman with the awful American accent. Sometimes we mix up who he is talking about, Carol or Carl. Anywho, my mind went a wandering. Of course it did. Did you know there is a plant which is known as the zombie plant? I know, right? How cool is that? It's very exciting. Yes, there are zombie plants, but also there are fictional plants derived from other plants. Some are carnivorous, some are sentients, and some are just poisonous. So sit back and relax, and remember please rate and review. It really does help. I've been getting a lot of traffic of late, which is very exciting. I'd really like to continue with it. If you want to buy me a coffee to keep me caffeinated, donate once or subscribe to buy me a coffee slash stems leaves roots. On with it. As an added bit of silliness, I'm going to whip out pop culture questions about the plants I am talking about in either film or TV. Answers will be at the end. Zombies. And yes, I know this is a plant podcast, but let me just ask, if dead people end up with the look of longer hair and nails, why don't zombies have that same look? While you ponder on that, let's talk zombie plants. There is a particular plant which drops its leaves in place. I realise you cannot see air quotes on the talky thingy, but it plays dead after you touch it. So if you're having a fragile day, don't touch this plant. It will make you sad. Five minutes later it will come back to life again and go, haha, joking. No, it doesn't actually say anything, which should be weird. Again with the air quotes, Danny. It's the same with sarcasm, really doesn't translate with the written word. It almost doesn't seem worth it if you have to explain it. Mimosa Pudica, which is also known as the sensitive or tickle me plant, no relation to Almo. If you crush past it, it will drop its sleeves and appear to be dead. It is very popular as a houseplant. I guess there are people who secretly like to have these plants stuffing up their house guests. If you Google Zombie Plants, it will come up with Zombies versus Plants, the video game. And yes, I have played it very early in its conception, but I was not a fan. So if you thought this was going to be an episode on that game, apologies, but no. As I said before, this is all about plants in TV and movie land. It will be a nerd fess of fictional and non-fictional plants and trees. Let's first talk about sentient plants, mostly known as sentient trees. What does this mean? Plant sentience is a deeply debated topic in biology and philosophy. While plants don't have brains or central nervous systems, they actively process environmental information, learn, remember, and communicate using complex electrical and chemical signals. There are many studies on this, and the consensus is that trees do have a kind of knowledge and understanding about them. Let's talk about willows in real life. When I was doing an ag course, they said plant the willows on the eroded bank of rivers, as it will help the structure. A few years later, I did environmental studies and they said how invasive this plant can be, and in certain areas in Australia it is seen as a weed. And to use only this plant for erosion would be bad as it may stuff up ecosystems, which is not what you want. A few years later, I was doing horticulture, and the lecturers were excited about the tree because of its form. For instance, you can snap off a piece of the tree and plant it, and it will root up. So yeah, great plant if you can contain it, and make sure it is only planted in the area where it is able to go. Biologically, fantastic. And it's pretty and doesn't surprise me that so many fictional trees were derived from this species. There is the grandmother willow, the maternal sentient, wise beyond its ears, spiritual being in Pocahontas. This is derived from the weeping willow, Salex Babylonica, which has the weeping structure, which I'm sure you've all seen. The womping willow in Harry Potter. Pop quiz question one Does this have the habit of a weeping willow or is it actually known as another species? Ents. How I love the Ents. Of course they are no particular species. They are the ancient sentient trees, the shepherds of trees. However, they most resemble oak and beech trees, and some of their leaves look like Rowan and Balsam poplar. Pop quiz question two. What is the leader of the Ents name? The Faraway Tree. This is a huge tree with many nooks and crannies amongst its trunk, and once you enter the cloud above it you are in a different land each time. This tree is often described being gigantic ancient sentient norse-like tree of the enchanted wood. The ancient Manoa tree in Aragon. If you have not read this series and you love fantasy, dragons, magic, action, a bit of romance, then do yourself a favor and read this series. Anyway, the Manoa tree is an ancient sentient tree in the elven capital of Elzmira. It provides Aragon with bright steel for his future forged sword. The Manoa tree was created when the master plant singer Linia melded herself with the oldest tree in Du Wedenwarden. I can't stress how brilliant these books are. Shout out to my son who got me onto these. The Manoa tree is completely made up, but I see it looking like a beech tree, and when I see fan art, it's it looks like a beech tree or sometimes even a willow tree. Now let's talk about plants. So the poppies in The Wizard of Oz. Side note here, I am actually reading this at the moment. It's a lot darker than the Hollywood version. Are we surprised? And no singing. Haha. Pop quiz number three. Is the good witched Glenda in the book described as she is in the film? Anyway, back to the poppies. I'm sure you all know that the opium popper popper. Shout out to my popper, papavasomniferin, is the natural source of narcotics. The seed pods produce a milky substance which contains powerful alkaloids like morphine and codeine, which do have the power of making you sleepy in certain circumstances. So I believe these poppies were derived from the original poppy and also with the use of magic, of course. Well, dark magic, of course. In the Harry Potter books, and I am stressing here, I don't like the way the author is using her money. However, I do love the books. Rowan trees are used in their wands. Rowan trees are real. They are spelt wrong, only joking. My nephew is Rowan, R-O-H-A-N, and obviously spelt with a H, and in the H P trees, the Rowan trees are spelt R-O-W-A-N. Sorbus acuparia are also known as Mountain Ash, and in some parts of the world is considered weeds. So very good to, you know, produce wands. But this was noted way before the bespeckled boy Wonder. These trees are also known as the Tree of Protection. It is celebrated in Celtic, Norse, and Finnish mythology as powerful wards against malevolent spirits, witchcraft, and bad luck. While we're in Potter Land, let's talk about Mimbulus Mimbletonia, which the other might be chosen one cared for. This one's properties are magical and therefore completely made up. However, the look and structure is imagined with thoughts of cacti and succulence. It looks a lot like Laralicia and has derivatives of euphoria in it. Photos on Instagram. And still in Port Potter Land. Pop quiz question four. What is the name of the completely made-up plant Boy Wonder uses in the Tri-Wizard Tournament? We can't talk plants of pop culture without talking about the Triffids and Audrey. Who is Audrey too? What is she? Who is Seymour? And Pop Quiz question five, who is Audrey number one? Audrey is a Venus flytrap in the hilariously fun film Little Shop of Horrors. It's a musical and it was made in the 60s. It's one of those cult schlock horror films that you either hate or love. I haven't seen it in years. Seymour is her creator. And actually, when she says Seymour, that gets stuck in my head. Okay, so yes, she looks like a Venus flytrap. But did you know that the original script described her as an andromorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado? She is also known as a bloodthirsty antagonist, obviously. In the film, she is between a Venus flytrap and a butterwort cross, which is another type of carnivorous plant, which comes from out of space. So there are many carnivorous plants, and while most of them only eat insects, there is a species in Africa which chomps on small mammals. So maybe Audrey II is not so out of this world. Okay, on to the triffids. I read this years ago and it was a very scary book. It is when the plants take over the world. Pop quiz question six. What do Audrey II and the triffids have in common? Are the triffids derived from any real life plant? Nope, these are very much the brain sapling of the author John Wintham. He may have taken some of their traits from real plants, however, and I gave you a huge clue with the question. Other plants would be Mediterranean squirting cucumber plant, Echabalium elatorium, which ejects its ripe seeds. Also, large menacing weeds in Britain are often called triffids because they are huge and menacing and look like they're going to take over the world. I am now going to talk about some modern plants in TV shows. The Last of Us with the delightfully yummy Pedro Pascali is a zombie TV series. Instead of deriving from people, as most other zombie series films are about, this one comes from a plant. Well, a fungi, to be technical, and yes, the style and plant exists, however, its hosts are insects and not humans. In the TV series, a plant, Cordyceps, uses humans as their host as it gets into the humans' brains and bing bang boo, zombie. The actual fungi, Ophiocordioceps unilateral, hijacks the body and nervous systems of insects, and guess what its common name is? Zombie ant fungus. I kid you not. Pop quiz. Question 7. What zombie TV show stars Drew Barrymore? My son is addicted to anime, and some of the anime have plants. One he talks about a lot is the devil fruit in one piece. There is so much lore to these fruit, but let me think. There are three types. One will alter the person's body and will allow them to manipulate themselves or the environment around them. The second grants them to transform into an animal, and the third, which is the rarest but also the most powerful, and these allow you to transform into anything. It's anime, so obviously they are made up completely. They may look like some fruit you may have seen. However, I think if you came across them, read up on the law, as there are actually rules, which I won't go into here, because it's not a podcast about One Piece. Pop quiz question eight. What is Luffy, who is the main protagonist? Devil fruit called, which gives him the stretchy powers. Still on anime, we have a few more to note. Kurama of Yu Yu Hakusho uses a rose whip to control demon plants. I wonder if that would work on weeds. Mimosa Vermilion from Black Cullover, specialized in plant magic. He's able to use them to heal, for defense, and for offensive attacks. And this really doesn't surprise me. There are so many natural remedies and old stories of using plants to warding off evil spirits and helping with cleansing. So I would say this would be just derived from this. One also might think that essential oils are magical too. The last one is Hashirama Senju from Naruto Shipuden, who is able to instantly grow gigantic trees to fend off enemies. I love this. Minecraft is a block video game, which is the same age as my son. And yes, I do play only the vanilla. My son has gone from mod to mod, but that's okay. Weirdly, I can't think of any plants in the games that are made up. I guess enchanted golden apples and carrots are something one would not want to eat in real life. But I had to mention it. I play The Sims 2, and the only plant in that game, which again is resembling the Venus flytrap, is the cow plant. You have to keep it happy, i.e. fed. Pop quiz question 9. What will the cow plant do if you don't keep it happy? A few other plants which were pivotal in their movies. The life plant in the boot in Wally. Who didn't love this film? That boot plant was the instigator for the starting of the new earth. The potatoes in the Martian haven't seen it, but apparently he uses his botanical skills to grow those potatoes in Mars, which again was a pivotal plot twist. Well, I don't know if it was a twist, but it was needed. The enchanted rose in The Beauty and the Beast. This was a visual timer for Belle and the Beast. The poisoned apple in Snow White, and this poisoning of food is not just a fairy tale, as we know. Let's not forget the beef wellingtons. Other plants and trees I thought of was the secret garden, which becomes a safe and healing place for the orphans. Stephen King wrote a short story called The Lawnmower Man. If you've read it, then you know. Octavia E. Butler writes a fantastic sci-fi book called Dawn, where the plants are integrated into the ecosystems they live in. The spaceship they are in is 90% plant material. And the last plants I want to talk about is in Buffy, which is one of my favourite TV shows. So of course I had to bring it up. Okay, in season six, Willow gives Tara a branchlet to pin on her dress. This, as well as a crystal and a few magical words, makes her forget they have had a fight. Oh I know, huge red flag. It's a brilliant episode, and they do break up because of this gaslighting. That piece of plant is from Leith's Bramble, and Leith's Bramble is obviously made up, but it looks a lot like any bramble you can think of in real life. And pop quiz question number 10. What is the name of this episode? Okay, I think I've talked enough. I have really shown my nerd side today, haven't I? Huh? What have I in my garden? Nothing from this episode, weird. But I do have a weeping calistamin, which I love. It's winter, isn't it? Isn't it? I still have strawberries. How? My warringle greens have died off, garlic has started sprouting, and my seeds of various veggies are coming along. Alright, next bonus, I'll be talking about plants in mythology. If you want to suggest other things, please let me know. But next time we'll be talking about winter pruning. Yay! Answers to the quiz. Question one, the womping willow. Does this have the habit of a weeping willow or is it actually known as another species? It actually the answer is it looks like a beech tree and acts like a beech tree. Question two, what is the leader of the ant's name? Answer tree bead. Question three Is the good witch Glenda in the book described as she is in the film? Answer No. She looks more like a munchkin and she doesn't arrive in a bubble either. Question four What is the name of the completely made up plant Boy Wonder uses in the Tri Wizard Tournament? Answer Gillyweed. Question five, who is Audrey number one? Answer Seymour's workmate and crush. Question six What do Audrey two and the Trivets have in common? Answer They are both based on Venus fly traps traits. Question seven What zombie TV show stars Drew Barrymore? Answer Santa Clarita's Diet And I did watch that, that was good. Question eight, what is Luffy's devil fruit called which gives him the stretchy powers? Answer Gum Gum Fruit. Question nine, what will the cow plant do if you don't keep it happy? Answer it will kill and eat you. Question ten, what is the name of the episode in Buffy? Answer tabula rasa. Who got 10 out of 10? Until next time, my dear leaflets, Toodle Ooh.

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