Monday, July 18, 2011

The monster plant ............

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Several months ago I bought this Sago Palm to put on my coffee table. It gets plenty of light where it sits and once a week I spray it off in the sink. Not long ago, shoots began to grow from the top. They grew and they grew and they are still growing. Does anyone know what they are? They seem awful long to become new leaves. I looked up Sago Palm flowers and these are not flowers. I told Hubby he should not turn his back to this plant when he takes a nap on the sofa. It may reach over and grab him. It is rather sinister looking - like something out of a horror movie.

17 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Very cool, but I have no idea about that one. How do you keep your cats from touching it. We have (1) cat that loves to eat most plants for some reason....the others leave them alone.

Michelle said...

I have to say that I know nothing about this plant!

Lynilu said...

I got curious about that, and here is one article about it. If I'm reading things correctly, you have a male sago palm! http://en.allexperts.com/q/House-Plants-721/2009/5/Sago-Palm-2.htm

MountainBlessings said...

Hmmm, I have never seen this plant either. I would have to agree, turning your back on it could be interesting. So it's a male, I wonder what the shoots on a female will look like? Interesting!

KathyA said...

I love sago palms!!! but I've never seen those fronds, either. Has it been yelling "Feed me!!", Feed me!!"?

Arkansas Patti said...

If you throw it some hamburger and it gobbles it up, put that sucker outside:))
I have some vining spinach that I am leary of.
Really, it is a very healthy plant but I have no idea about its growths.

Pat said...

It's like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors...Feed Me!

schmidleysscribblins,wordpress.com said...

I've never seen anything like it, but your advice to hubby is good. I think those must be the "blooms" of the palm. Dates are a palm fruit, and you need flowers to get fruit, but dates as we know them do not come from the sago palm to my knowledge.Still the advice to hubby applies. You never know what "she" wants.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Oh, it's totally Little Shop of Horrors - on your coffee table ;-)

Gilly said...

Yep - definitely a Triffid! You want to watch out!!

(You have heard of "Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham, haven't you? Its been made into several films, but the book is MUCH better!)

Gilly said...

PS Did you know it is devastatingly poisonous to dogs, cats and humans??

Amy said...

Uh Oh! Watch out kitties! No more bringing live mice in the house. Ha Ha!

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

It DOES look sinister! And according to Gilly, it is!

TheBookGirl said...

The first thing I thought of when I saw that was Little Shop of Horrors!
I think my dog, who is afraid of everything, would run and hide from this one :)

NitWit1 said...

Hmmm, you commentators seemed to have identified it but I would watche hubby and the cats since it apparently is dangerous.

I had a arid plant akin to cacti w/o thorns. Once a year it sent one long tendril that winded throughout my window plant box. The tendril had the tiniest of flowers, but it was surely tough to cut out.

J_on_tour said...

Yea, those stalks make it look like a scary looking thing. Good job it's in front of the sofa where it can be watched !!

Joseph said...

My palm did the exact same thing. I bought mine at Ikea and about 6 months later it started growing them. They got about the same length as yours and I left them on my plant to see what they did. After a few months of them not doing anything I cut them off and my plant has seemed fine since, although that was just 2 weeks ago...