The Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley in the United Kingdom is running their own little shop of horrors as their prize plant, a three meter tall "sheep-eating" Puya chilensis, is set to bloom for the first time according to Yahoo.
The rare plant comes from the Andes where it is thought to use its horns to trap animals. The website of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley explains:
"In its natural habitat in the Andes it uses its razor sharp spines to snare and trap sheep and other animals, which slowly starve to death and decay at the base of the plant, providing it with the grizzly equivalent of a bag of fertilizer. The plant's taste for sheep has also proved its undoing in its native habitat where shepherds will go in search of the plants and set fire to them to protect their flocks."
The plant may not actually eat sheep in the way that Audrey II ate people in "Little Shop of Horrors" but it is still enormous with razor sharp spikes that can do some damage to anyone who isn't careful.
The Puya in the U.K. is flowering for the first time in the 15 years since it has been planted. Cara Smith, the plant's main caretaker, was quite excited by the development.
"I'm really pleased that we've finally coaxed our Puya chilensis into flower," Smith said.
The flowering plant is quite a thing to see as a giant flowerhead that is about a meter long will jut out from the top of the plant. It will be packed with blossoms, each about 6-8 cm long and filled with a mass amount of nectar that makes them a favorite of both birds and bees, according to Tresco.com.
People shouldn't be scared to go see the flowering Puya despite its sheep killing reputation, this particular Puya has never had the taste for sheep's blood.
"We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic," Smith said. "It's well worth a visit but parents coming along with small children don't need to worry about the plant devouring their little ones. It's growing in the arid section of our Glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike."
