I promised an answer to the question, posed on 28 October, what was the heavy plant which was crossing under that patio, raising the 2’ by 3’ concrete paving slabs and demolishing the retaining wall. Many people have relations of this triffid in their gardens and even homes but fear not. Many are not even hardy, a touch of frost finishes them. Our triffid is obviously a hardy variety, it can be used for a very beautiful, if shaggy, deciduous hedge.
The answer is that this is not a genetically modified version of anything, which the original triffid was. Picture of the Week for 28 October showed the root system of a common and garden hardy fuchsia. I don’t know the variety, but the leaves and flowers look very like ‘genii,’ see photo.
Fuchsia Genii - picture from
The word and idea of the Triffid was invented by sci-fi writer John Wyndham in his novel The Day of the Triffids, first published in 1951. His prediction of the science of genetic crop modification had the triffids emerge as the; "outcome
of a series of ingenious biological meddlings." (Day of the Triffids page 27)
Wyndham's Triffids were eight foot tall plants which had developed the ability to walk, albeit slowly. They also had a lethal sting and a liking for human flesh. I've seen two filmed versions of this story and neither do as much with the strengths of the book as they could have. The book itself is well written and definitely worth a read if you are into post-apocalyptic worlds. I was perhaps twelve or fourteen when I first read it, a much more recent re-reading still had me biting my nails.
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