All Questions
138
questions
59
votes
12
answers
17k
views
Is a man-eating plant realistic?
Carnivorous plants live in nutrient-poor, highly lit habitats, such as bogs or rocks. For example Earth's biggest carnivorous plant, Nepenthes rajah, lives on mountain-tops with high concentration of ...
- 2,939
50
votes
8
answers
29k
views
Can plants survive without animals?
Could a world with no animals whatsoever (not even insects, no humans, etc) still have plant life? These plants do not have to include all the plants in our world, or even any of the same plants. I ...
- 3,530
43
votes
9
answers
21k
views
Could a plant grow on a restrained, living human?
My question is:
Could a macroscopic (e.g. visible) plant grow on a living human, provided that the human is completely immobilized?
- 6,305
42
votes
24
answers
9k
views
Why can't my huge trees be chopped down?
In my world there is a forest of huge trees which people can't or won't chop down. The trees are similar to redwood trees but they have a large crown and no lower branches. The forest is quite dark ...
- 603
40
votes
10
answers
6k
views
Anatomically Correct Carnivorous Tree
How might a carnivorous tree look or work?
The following conditions must be met:
Consumes members of the biological kingdom 'Animalia'
Possesses something resembling a trunk or stem of any kind
...
- 6,778
39
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What would be the evolutionary advantage for plants to be bioluminescent?
As fas as I know, there isn't a single plant on Earth that (naturally) produces any sort of luminescence. But it is seen in science-fiction worlds, especially Avatar.
From an evolutionary point of ...
- 12.5k
38
votes
8
answers
7k
views
Are diamond berries possible?
Diamonds are carbon. Plants take in CO2 and use the carbon. Chemically, could the right kind of plant have diamonds for berries, or is there some other limiting factor?
- 2,118
34
votes
8
answers
6k
views
What environment would make leaves light blue?
What environmental effects (if any) would ever cause blue to be a colour that a plant would choose as an evolutionary advantage?
Bonus:
I'm looking for light blue plants as a preference.
EDIT:
...
- 3,144
30
votes
8
answers
5k
views
How would trees communicate?
An alternate world is populated by mainly intelligent trees and other plants. These plants are almost exactly the same, biologically, as Earth's plants. The world's climate and geology are very ...
30
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How tall can a tree grow?
In my fantasy world I want fantastically large trees, particularly in the height category. The tallest trees on earth grow just over 100 meters tall. Why can't they get taller? What circumstances ...
- 13.8k
29
votes
13
answers
6k
views
Can a planet harbor plants of different colors without one pigment outcompeting the others?
On Earth, all plants are green because they contain the pigment chlorophyll, which photosynthesizes by absorbing all light except green light.
However, it is quite possible - if not likely - that ...
- 14.9k
26
votes
14
answers
10k
views
How to kill trees?
In a world where magic energy and life-force are compatible if not equivalent forces, woodcutting can be a problem in regions with high magic potential.
If a woodcutter fells a tree and leaves it, it ...
- 1,465
25
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Learning a new language without any reference
In my world the characters find themselves in a new land. They do not understand the locals nor do the locals understand them. How could these characters learn to understand the locals withing a month ...
- 251
25
votes
7
answers
10k
views
How could a sentient plant evolve and what conditions would be required for this evolution?
This is my entry for the fortnightly topic challenge
In Day of the Triffids, many people go blind and the basic summary is this:
virulent plague makes most of humanity blind
giant, semi-intelligent ...
- 11.9k
24
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What colour is the foliage if the sky is violet?
This question on Physics.SE asks whether other colors are possible for the sky.
I would like my planet to be inhabitable by normal humans. It has 768 days and they are living in a temperate/...
- 1,357