Iceplants are not Triffids - or at least, I don't think so... - 2009-06-03 05:30:57
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I'm fairly sure that the triffid is fictional - though you should note that it has it's own wikipedia page. And then other pages for the books (The Day of the Triffids, The Night of the Triffids) and the film (The Day of the Triffids). Not to mention the BBC radio drama (The Day of the Triffids) and the television series (The Day of the Triffids). (You'd think they could have at least come up with a few different Triffid titles in there! Twilight of the Triffids, Dawn of the Triffids, Rush Hour of the Triffids - there are so many possibilities...)

Anyway. Iceplants are common here, and they're definitely not triffids. But as I saw the film at an age when I was way too impressionable, I always feel that succulents are suspect. They look a little too triffidy to me. (I admit, I enjoy using the word triffidy.)



I think this particular Iceplant is the Carpobrotus edulis and the wikipedia page makes me feel my suspicions are a bit justified:

"Carpobrotus edulis is a creeping, mat-forming succulent species and member of the Stone Plant family Aizoaceae, one of about 30 species in the genus Carpobrotus. It is also known as Ice Plant, Highway Ice Plant, Pigface or Hottentot Fig...
In several parts of the world, notably Australia, California and the Mediterranean, all of which share a similar climate, the Ice Plant has escaped from cultivation and has become an invasive species...
...On the Mediterranean coast, Carpobrotus has spread out rapidly and now parts of the coastline are completely covered by this invasive species. Moreover, it has been shown that another invasive species, the black rat, enhances the spreading of the ice plant through its feces. As the ice plant represents a food resource for the rat, the invasive species benefit from each other...

Yes, I've bolded bits of that just to make them sound even freakier. I like the idea that the rats are collaborating with the trif - er I mean Iceplants in their invasion of the landscape.

Plus this gives me an excuse to post that shot of an Iceplant that I've played with in Photoshop.

Other amusing triffidy links:

Texas Triffid Ranch - "a nursery for carnivorous, prehistoric, and otherwise exotic plants" and "also a resource for carnivorous plant enthusiasts." (Also has a blog.)

Stomp Tokyo's review of Day of the Triffids - "In the end, the critters are not much different from zombies - slow, stupid, and easily disposed of. (It's remarkable that it took eighty minutes for Masen to think of a flamethrower, but there you have it.)" Stomp Tokyo is one of my go-to websites when I need to read about cheesey films rather than actually watch them.

Meanwhile BadMovies.org and Bad Movie Report don't review any triffid films. Odd...

JABOOTU the bad movie dimension's review of Day of the Triffids - "The most famous version is the fairly crappy but warmly remembered 1962 killer plant film The Day of the Triffids, which was a TV late night perennial back in the day. The biggest change is that the movie presents the world with a miracle cure for the Triffids (ambulatory plants that kill with a poisoned stinger), whereupon civilization is (it is implied) fairly easily restored. This is pretty far from Wyndham’s intent."

TV Tropes Day of the Triffids - It's always good to know the tropes ahead of time. That way you'll know to watch for the Evil Redhead and When Trees Attack.

Absolute Astronomy's Day of the Triffids - Nice page of facts, and strangely serious. I didn't know the band Ash had a song about Triffids.

Gotterdammerung.org's Day of the Triffids - "But here we have an entirely gratuitous scene in which a triffid devours a nameless night watchman for no other purpose than to show the triffid doing it." Nice color screenshots of the seemingly nonthreatening triffid mob.

Zombiephiles' Day of the Triffids - How to Survive Day of the Triffids (a list of helpful tips) and Zombies vs Triffids (looks like the triffids beat out the zombies).

At WOWIO you can read the book online. Something I should do...later...

Apparently the BBC has a remake out sometime in 2009:

Plants kill again in Triffids remake
John Howell, SFF Media, 28 November 2008

"The BBC is remaking the John Wyndham science fiction classic, The Day of The Triffids, a story about poisonous plants running amok after almost everyone has been blinded by a solar storm (or was it a military experiment gone awry?). With most of the population blind, even the slow moving Triffids have a Darwinian edge.

Triffids feed on rotting meat, walk around on three stumpy legs, wield a lethal whip-like poisonous sting, and appear to possess rudimentary intelligence. In the novel they seem to communicate with each other, although the exact level of intelligence is never explicitedly stated.

...The BBC's remake is set in 2011 when the world's fossil fuel supply is almost gone and the Triffids are being used as an alternative fuel source. According to the BBC's press release, the Triffids will roam the planet "with a fatal sting and a retributive taste for human flesh". A sighted survivor, Dr. Bill Masen, must lead an epic battle against the Triffids’ reign of terror, while avoiding the maniacal opportunism of other sighted survivors, to prevent the last days of mankind."

Apparently it's due out sometime in August, according to the IMDB page. And will have Eddie Izzard in the cast. Another SSF post about the film here. Wonder how soon it'll make it to BBC America...

And in case you wanted the slightly less Photoshop'd version of the plant...



Frankly I thought the filters I put on the first one would be more obvious, but apparently the sun was so bright that day that the light and color will look intense no matter what I do to it.

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