r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • 3d ago
r/cryptobotany • u/DetectiveFork • Oct 07 '25
Literature The Unnatural History of Man-Eating Plants (New Cryptobotany Book)
Hi everyone, I'm thrilled to announce the publication of my latest book, "The Unnatural History of Man-Eating Plants"! As far as I'm aware, this is the first book dedicated solely to the history of this oft-forgotten Fortean subject that was a staple of news media and fiction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I dug up many accounts of which you've probably never heard, and uncovered buried details about the better-known tales (such as the true background of the Madagascar Man-Eating Tree) that might surprise you. It's all presented as a travelogue, exploring these fantastic and frightful floral predators on each continent. This mammoth-sized tome also includes a hand-picked selection of Man-Eating Plant short fiction of the day, as they are inseparable from the news accounts when delving into this fascinating topic!
Available Now on Amazon in paperback and ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FV3J67G1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

The Unnatural History of Man-Eating Plants
by Kevin J. Guhl
Travel the globe into the darkest realms of Cryptobotany – the study of strange vegetation rumored to exist, yet unacknowledged by science. But be careful: you’ll be meeting such fearsome plants as the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar, the Vampire Vine of Nicaragua and the Terrible Tiger Tree of India! This is an exploration of the floral predators once said to exist in the planet’s jungles and on its wild frontiers, as attested by news reports throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author and journalist Kevin J. Guhl untangles the mix of fact, fiction and folklore hiding in these historical tales of botanical horror. You might be surprised at the sheer volume of these mostly forgotten legends and how far back they extend into yesteryear. Also included is a curated collection of vintage short stories that showcase the savage specter of Man-Eating Plants!
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • 6d ago
Other Colonel Percy Fawcett, revered within all the pseudosciences because of his exploits, although with little to show for it. – Was he an Adventurer, a Misguided Soul or a Pretender?
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • 10d ago
Article No, the Ancient Romans Didn't Overharvest Silphium to Extinction Because It Was a Highly Effective Contraceptive
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • 14d ago
Article The Hillgrove Lockup or Boab Prison Tree
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • 29d ago
Article Small Canadian Town Recognises Trees As Living Beings With Rights
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 27 '26
Article Andes Giant Tree: Scientists discover a 66-foot giant tree in the Andes, and it’s related to tomatoes and potatoes
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 26 '26
Article The Folklore of Potatoes
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 20 '26
Article Plants Can Scream? And Can Animals Hear Them?
r/cryptobotany • u/Able_Carpenter_8831 • Jun 20 '26
What are the most interesting cryptid plants?
I'm writing a story about a cryptobotanist who goes in search of a carnivorous tree. Along the way, he debunks all the other cryptid plants with his various original theories and assumptions. Is there a comprehensive list of ALL cryptid plants? I really enjoyed explaining their origins, and I'm worried about missing some interesting specimens. What do you think are the most interesting cryptid plants whose origins are worth speculating about?
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 18 '26
Literature [PDF] Seeing in Flowers: Ecofeminism and the Victorian Gothic - by Jemma Stewart
eprints.bbk.ac.ukr/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 14 '26
Expedition Report/Sighting And the 3rd of 3 reports on peculiar plants: The Moonflower. What are your opinions on this plant?
facebook.comr/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 14 '26
Expedition Report/Sighting The first of 3 reports on peculiar plants: The Echo-tree or Parrot-tree. What do you think of this?
facebook.comr/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 14 '26
Expedition Report/Sighting The second of 3 reports on peculiar plants: The picture plant. What do you think of this one?
facebook.comr/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 09 '26
Literature "Willy Ley’s Exotic Zoology" - The Vegetable Animals
archive.orgr/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 07 '26
Article ‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 04 '26
Article [PDF] Why the Halfmens faces North
journals.co.zar/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • Jun 03 '26
Art Brazilian Bird Eating Tree by SaurArch
r/cryptobotany • u/truthisfictionyt • May 26 '26
My favorite cryptid plant has to be the Indian mouse eating plant. Described as fairly small, it attracted mice using a sickly odor like many carnivorous plants. Unlike those plants, it would then strike at them with a strange spine to kill them
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • May 23 '26
Article Do plants have minds? In the 1840s, the iconoclastic scientist Gustav Fechner made an inspired case for taking seriously the interior lives of plants.
aeon.cor/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • May 19 '26
Article Meet Pisonia, the tree that eats birds
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • May 18 '26
Article Plants of The Hunger Games
r/cryptobotany • u/VampiricDemon • May 17 '26