Bunya Pine begins dropping lethal, 10kg cones the size of watermelons | News.com.au -- [For the first time in 15 years, a certain pine tree in the Victorian town of Warragul has begun dropping pine cones. But apart from the fact it rarely happens, these are no ordinary pine cones. They're giant, people-killing pine cones.]


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Pale ghosts that hide amid their gigantic siblings, only a few dozen albino redwood trees are known to exist. They are genetic mutants that lack the chlorophyll needed for photosynthesis. But how and why they survive is a scientific mystery. QUEST ventures into the deep canopy of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park near Felton, California to track ( Read more... )

Scientific Name: Asclepias physocarpa
Also known as: Swan Plant, Balloonplant, Giant Milkweed, Cotton Balls and Hairy Balls

This is a picture of the plant in it's full glory.


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Fir tree man shocks doctors

A young man from the capital of Russia’s Udmurtian Republic was diagnosed with cancer, and had to undergo an operation which revealed the shocking truth - he had no cancer but… a tree growing in his lung. 
It sounds like a story from Burger’s Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, when the eccentric Baron shot a cherry stone at ( Read more... )

Been learning quite a bit about spiders the last few days, as I put together my notes for the first presentation on pest groups for work. ( "Eight-legged Freaks - A Few Facts About Spiders & How To Control Them". BWAHHAAHAAAHAA - talk about given the monkey the keys to the banana plantation ( Read more... )

In Crater Lake in Oregon there is a large stump of wood that has been floating in the lake for over 100 years. It has been bleached white by the elements and is large enough and bouyant enough to support a grown man.


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As far as WTF goes, I suppose this doesn't really qualify. But it is really cool! :)

It's a norwegian forest photographed over one year, and shown in 40 seconds.

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Here is an article on the Most Alien-Looking Place on Earth - I particularly love the Dragon's Blood Trees. I think I've seen them in some SF illustrations.

Figs are a highly successful family of plants found all over the world's tropical zone, and well into the subtropical areas as well. They've been around for at least 60 Million years, possibly 80 million, and much of their success comes from a hundred million generations of incest, fraticide, and paranoia. One reason it's hard to be sure when figs ( Read more... )