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seasick feeling to watch it. As a method of progress it looked both strenuous and clumsy—faintly reminiscent of young elephants at play. One felt that if it were to go on lurching for long in that fashion it would be bound to strip all its leaves if it did not actually break its stem. Nevertheless, ungainly though it looked, it was contriving to cover the ground at something like an average walking pace.
479:, Triffids are a faction composed of human-sized plant creatures that are aggressive to the player. The more dangerous version of these creatures is the "Triffid Queen", described as being cow-sized and very competent fighters with high hit points. If the player is able to defeat a "Triffid Heart", the creatures will not continue to spawn in that area of the map.
374:-like leaves and they secrete their oil (green rather than the novel's pink) from their surfaces. Their stingers, which in previous film adaptations could not penetrate glass, are powerful enough to shatter windows, like those of the original triffids of the novel. Instead of a cup they have a pink flower-like head, resembling a cross between a
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And there's certainly intelligence there, of a kind. Have you noticed that when they attack they always go for the unprotected parts? Almost always the head—but sometimes the hands. And another thing: if you look at the statistics of casualties, just take notice of the proportion that has been stung
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Above the base are upturned leafless sticks which the triffid drums against its stem. The exact purpose of this is not explained; it is originally assumed that they are part of the reproductive system, but Bill Masen's colleague Walter
Lucknor believes they are used for communication. Removal of the
248:
their stingers renders them harmless, docked triffids became fashionable in public and private gardens. These triffids are safe provided they are pruned annually, as they take two years to fully regrow their stingers. Farmed triffids are not docked because undocked triffids produce higher quality
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When it "walked" it moved rather like a man on crutches. Two of the blunt "legs" slid forward, then the whole thing lurched as the rear one drew almost level with them, then the two in front slid forward again. At each "step" the long stem whipped violently back and forth; it gave one a kind of
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The base of a triffid is a large muscle-like root mass, comprising three blunt appendages. When dormant, these appendages draw nutrients, as on a normal plant. When active, triffids use these appendages to propel themselves. The character Masen describes the triffid's locomotion thus:
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The plant can be divided into three components: base, trunk, and head (which contains a venomous sting). Adult triffids are typically 7 feet (2.1 m) in height. European triffids never exceed 8 feet (2.4 m); however, in tropical climates, they can reach 10 feet (3.0 m).
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363:) were designed with flaying tentacles below their stems, which they use as slashing weapons and to drag their dead prey. Also, their stinger is shown as a gas-propelled projectile, rather than a coiled tendril. Finally, the film triffids are vulnerable to
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My own belief . . . is that they were the outcome of a series of ingenious biological meddlings—and very likely accidental, at that. Had they been evolved anywhere but in the region they were, we should doubtless have had a well-documented ancestry for
391:, a small number of North American triffids reach 60 feet (18 m) in height. Aquatic triffids also appear but remain largely unseen, with the exceptions of their stingers: the latter described as
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regions. When it was discovered that triffids are venomous, they were almost exterminated, until they were identified as the source of valuable oil. Farms were then built to cultivate them.
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In the novel, it is stated that the first triffids appeared in equatorial regions. Though they develop faster in tropical zones, triffids soon established themselves worldwide, outside the
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The triffids also show awareness by their habit of herding blind people into cramped spaces to kill more easily and rooting themselves beside houses, waiting for the occupants.
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Triffids reproduce by inflating a dark green pod below the top of the funnel until it bursts, releasing white seeds (95% of which are infertile) into the air.
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The 2009 TV adaptation shows the triffids dragging themselves with prehensile roots which can also constrict their prey. Their stalk is surrounded by large
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The upper part of a triffid consists of a stem ending in a funnel-like formation containing a sticky substance which traps insects, much like a
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It is not clear whether the triffids are intelligent or acting on instinct. The character
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The triffids portrayed on screen and in sequels often differ in appearance from
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area of South Africa. It poses no threat to humans unless ingested, as it is
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124:John Wyndham
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65:(1951 novel)
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28:The Triffids
586:, chapter 2
120:carnivorous
1449:Categories
1344:Ecofiction
1305:Devolution
868:The BBC's
851:2022-05-03
529:References
513:time-lapse
433:Alan Moore
406:A sign in
393:prehensile
84:Created by
915:Works by
662:"Triffid"
651:, ch. 26.
638:, ch. 31.
625:, ch. 41.
612:, ch. 11.
608:Wyndham,
595:Wyndham,
566:Wyndham,
380:sweet pea
365:sea water
213:, with a
178:biologist
151:the novel
116:fictional
826:11 April
801:11 April
746:11 April
721:11 April
696:11 April
671:11 April
570:, ch. 2.
455:" named
352:'s 1962
1412:Related
1401:Triffid
1215:Triffid
877:at the
647:Clark,
634:Clark,
621:Clark,
599:, ch.5.
246:docking
207:Triffid
186:In the
169:In the
145:Origins
112:triffid
39:Triffid
1199:(2022)
1191:(2009)
1182:Chocky
1176:(1981)
1157:(1995)
1142:(1960)
1052:Jizzle
995:Chocky
924:Novels
494:Durban
378:and a
281:(1998)
239:desert
175:Soviet
21:Trifid
1208:Other
792:(PDF)
408:Kloof
372:agave
249:oil.
235:polar
219:vowel
215:long
192:Zaire
158:them.
114:is a
828:2022
803:2022
748:2022
723:2022
698:2022
673:2022
416:weed
376:lily
237:and
211:tri-
202:Name
162:The
110:The
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1002:Web
846:BBC
385:In
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