In the 70s of the 20th century, Brazilian naturalistMariano da SilvaWhile traveling in South America, he was horrified to find one in the rainforest on the border between Brazil and GuyanaA tree that feeds on raw meat
*From Us Weekly, January 4, 1925 At the time, the tree attracted monkeys by emitting a particularly enticing scent.
After inhaling this smell, the monkeys seem to enter a trance, and they climb up the trunk of the tree and climb higher and higher ......
Eventually, the monkeys became food for a hearty meal: the leaves of the canopy were closed, and the careless monkeys were tightly wrapped in a dense cocoon.
Da Silva wrote:
The green monster digests its prey in three days and then, like a vampire tree, "spits" out the leftover bones.When people first heard this astonishing story, many people thought that it was impossible for plants to eat live monkeys, but that Da Silva himself was hallucinating from a special Brazilian hallucinogen.
If the scientist's account is unique, then this explanation may be valid. But unfortunately, there is much more to the record of carnivorous plants than this!
A carnivorous tree eats an indigenous villager alive
In Madagascar, German naturalistKarl LichI saw a carnivorous plant with my own eyes.
The tree is 25 meters, with a thick trunk in the shape of a pineapple and strange biological structures growing on the top. The top of the tree has pointed leaves three to four meters long that are as sharp as a blade.
Between the leaves there are two concave disc-like structures, which are relatively concave, forming a huge palm that resembles an open hand, ready to close at any moment.
The AI-painted carnivorous tree Lich witnessed a brutal affair with his own eyesVampire-esque scenes
The tree has green tentacle-like vines that stretch out 2 to 5 meters in all directions from the disk-like structure. In addition to this, there are serpentine white vines that constantly writhe as if to catch unseen prey.
According to naturalists, the local aborigines performed a ritual of a sacrificial nature next to this strange tree. They prayed first and danced around the tree. They then choose one from among their own peopleYoung women as offerings
She was kicked and pushed closer to this peculiar Malagasy "palm tree".
The woman followed the instructions of the crowd, quickly climbed up the trunk of the tree, and began to drink the thick and sticky juice secreted by the tree disk. After getting drunk with juice, she fell into a trance.
At this time,"Palm trees"The white and green vines have begun their terrifying and mysterious movements. They continued to writhe, getting closer and closer to the intoxicated woman. In the end, she was wrapped in a clump of flexible and sturdy tentacles that were tightly wound.
The AI simulated the situation to draw her body sandwiched between massive disk-like structures that began to slowly but firmly close, pressing on the victim.
Moans and screams of pain followed. A disgusting liquid is spewed out, mixed with human blood and the venom of trees, before the victim's internal organs fall to the ground.
During this time, the boiling sound of blood can be heard: the tree absorbs torn human bodies and internal organs through its bark to satisfy its "craving".
A few minutes later, the victim lost signs of life.
It takes 10 days for the green monster to digest its prey, and then it spits out a white skull – what is left of what was once called human. The vines begin their deadly dance again, waiting and searching for new prey.
In the 19th century, this bloodthirsty tree was already well known to the local population, which terrified them. For centuries, Madagascar has been known as "".Land of Cannibal Trees”。Lich noted that scientists have never been able to obtain a sample of this unique carnivorous plant.
Look for monsters
One of the earliest known cases of a white man encountering a man-eating tree occurred in Northern Rhodesia, where there was a very difficult to accessBaroz Land。Most of the area is covered with dense jungle, and the local population is notorious for the area.
After the mysterious disappearance of several experienced, well-trained, and well-armed European hunters in the jungle, the local legend is once again spread that the forest is inhabited by a terrifying monster that devours humans.
The news reached curious German entrepreneursKaufmanThere. But he was too old to go on the expedition himself. So, he sent itKlaus von SchwimmerTravel to the jungle on his behalf.
Schwimmer is a well-known professional traveler, hunter and zoologist specializing in rare animals.
It is worth mentioning that Kaufman put forward a strict condition before funding the expedition: without his consentSchweemerUnder no circumstances are any information about this expedition to be revealed to **, especially if he shot or photographed the unknown beast.
Schwimmer's secret
Because of this, Schweimer remained silent until 1958Frankfurter Le Pressitungpublished an article entitled ".Spot a man-eating tree deep in the jungles of Central Africa!Sensational news.
The following is described in the report:
Upon arrival in Lusaka, the administrative center of the British colony, the head of the expedition hired two British hunters and twenty indigenous porters. After five days of arduous travel, the expedition finally reached the terrible area. As soon as the camp was set up, Schwimmer and two Englishmen set out to reconnoitre.
As they left the camp at a considerable distance, a breeze brought with it a strong and unusually enticing scent. After a short discussion, the curious hunters decided to move on to this enchanting aroma.
They came to a huge clearing. The clearing is full of grass, and there is a tree standing alone.
The whole tree looks like a forest, except for the thick trunk, the canopy of the giant tree is supported by many arm-thick branches, and the branches are hung with dense vines.
When Schwimmer and his companions stepped onto the clearing, the scent intensified, and a strong intoxicating aura came over the face, making one want to get close to this strange plant.
Just as the Englishman was about to walk towards the tree, the experienced Schwimmer, with his sixth sense, sensed that something was wrong, and he immediately shouted: "Stand back!."It's a trap!”
At the same time, Schweimer saw through his telescope a large number of bones scattered around the tree that were not easily visible from a distance.
The hunters quickly realized that the scent was like a powerful anesthetic, and after plugging their nostrils with sulfur, they began to approach the monster ...... again
When they got closer, they found that the ground under the tree was covered in almost white, polished bones, and on top lay two human skulls, three others peeking out from under the remains of small animals.
After all, Schwimmer is a scientist, and when he encounters this terrible phenomenon, he decides to throw a decoy to get a thorough understanding of how this ** tree devours its prey.
So, Schweimer walked about three meters under the tree and threw a vulture that had just been shot and had a body temperature on the tree with all his might.
I saw that the carnivorous plant reacted very quickly!As soon as the corpse hit the vines hanging from the branches, they immediately came alive and wrapped around the vulture, preventing it from falling to ......the ground
The last victims
Right on the edge of the clearing, the hunters held a meeting, andDraw conclusions
There is no need to hunt for unknown beasts anymore. All the legends about the bloodthirsty monsters that devoured humans most likely stem from this carnivorous plant they just encountered.And it is quite possible that the indigenous people knew about the tree perfectly, but they kept silent because this carnivorous tree could be sacred to them, or associated with some kind of taboo.
After marking the exact coordinates of the "monster" on the map, the expedition had just walked a short distance in the direction of the camp when they heard a frantic scream coming from the infamous clearing.
The hunters rushed back, but it was too late: under the cannibal tree, a huge mass of vines was wriggling, revealing the shoulders and head of a black porter, struggling in agony.
At this point, someone may have already been bornQuestionsA.S. If it's so easy to find a real carnivorous tree, and people have known about it for half a century, why haven't you seen anything on TV about it or read any great stories about it in glossy magazines?
The answer is simple.
Schweimer told the local patriarch about the porter's plight when he returned to the camp. The patriarch listened to his words with a blank face, and then announcedHis tribal custom demanded the destruction of the bloody enemies of their fellow tribesmen.
Despite Schwimmer's strong insistence that the dryads were of great value to scientific research, the next day a punitive expedition organized by a Negro group set out from the camp.
The Avengers plugged their nostrils with resin balls and spent two hours dragging dead branches to the clearing. Then they began to light bundles of dry branches, throwing them at the "enemy", gradually narrowing the encirclement. Eventually, the carnivorous plant turned into a raging fire.
When the cannibal tree burned out, it was left with only a thick layer of ash in its place, which was covered with the molten bones of its victims.
Schwimmer's report caused a stir among botanists, zoologists and those with knowledge of tropical Africa. In fact, he was even prosecuted for alleged perjury and fraud.
But the British, who were in the jungle with Schwimmer, confirmed under oath that they fully confirmed what he had reported.
Late, Cape TownDe GloucesterThe professor went to Rhodesia and, with the help of the authorities, found several blacks who had worked as Schwemer's porters, who also confirmed everything that the Germans said.
A year later, the Brussels Institute of Tropical Studies organized an expedition to Rhodesia, and relying on the records of the first expedition, they easily found the "Death Clearing" and a large number of animal bones and human remains.
This became the strongest and final evidence of the existence of the carnivorous tree!
Soon after, the colonial authorities announced the closure of the headwaters of the Kalombo River to European hunters and other foreigners.