Khaloshean siren or singing plant

'''Khaloshean singing plant '''
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Khalosian singing plant,also known as the Khalosian siren plant and Khalosian telepathic plant that are a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—

The Khaloshean singing plant is a native to Khalosia. It is a blue plant ,red and yellow tiger like stripes ,plus with a single broad, lilypad shaped leaf on a long stem. It can be found growing among the many boulders and plains that make up the planets's surface.Khaloshean singing plant was first cultivated on the homeworld of the Khelloshean race,as weopon of warfare,against the Randareans,based a variety of native plants cross bred,to give the Siren plant,it's unique abilities.'''Khaloshean singing plant seeds were stolen,by agents of the Zatikhons and sold upon various black market operations.Many seeds,spreads,through the destruction of damaged tramp freighters and that they drifted through deep space,until they found suitavle homes to thrive in.

As its structure vibrates in the near constant winds on the planet's surface, the Khaloshean Singing Plant emits a beautiful, wailing chime, which is very pleasing to some lifeforms ear,drawing them toward it,like the Sirens of the dysonsphere world ,known as  Olympus Prime. Holding the plant's leaf still in one's hands will cause the song to cease, but it will resume again once let go.The spores are held in repositories called pod plants, which discharge the spores into the face of anyone who comes close. The spores infect a person,either giving mild pleasure or intense,violent emotions,depending on the persons mental health. The spores, were a communal intelligence; when someone was possessed by them, that individual was granted telepathic abilities to link up with other possessed minds. The abilities of the spores to restore health were complete enough to enable them to return the dead to life. The antidotes for the spores were either the possession of a certain blood type or the introduction of alcohol into the affected person. The plant has a long, rigid stem growing roughly three or four feet tall with several leaves, and capped by a small pod of purplish flower petals and a group of yellow thorns within its center. The plant is capable of limited movement, as it was shown to react to humanoid life in its immediate vicinity. The plant will turn its pod toward its intended target, and fire a group of the thorns using a small chemical or pneumatic explosion. The thorns are tipped with a saponin-type poison, and can be lethal without immediate medical treatment.

It is not fully known what function the plants' thorns serve. The plant may be another form of carnivorous life, feeding on animal lifeforms that succumb to its thorns, or it may be a form of defense mechanism for the planet itself, under control of the

The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap (also Khaloshean Venus Flytrap's Flytrap or Khaloshean Venus Flytrap' Flytrap), Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids,by use of it’s telepathic and audio siren weilling,that can hurd for miles. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value.

The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap (also Khaloshean Venus Flytrap's Flytrap or Khaloshean Venus Flytrap' Flytrap), Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey&mdash;mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value.

The plant's common names refer to Khaloshean Venus Flytrap, the Roman goddess of love, whereas the genus name refers to Dione. Dionaea is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant and sundews.

Description
The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap is a small plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year; longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering. Flytraps that have more than 7 leaves are colonies formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground.The base of a triffid is a large muscle-like root mass comprising three blunt appendages. When dormant/docile, these appendages are rooted into the ground and are used to draw nutrients, as with a normal plant. When active, triffids use these appendages to propel themselves along at a moderate walking pace.



The upper part of a Khellosean Siren Plant consists of a stem ending in a funnel-like formation containing a sticky substance which traps insects, much like a pitcher plant. Also housed within the funnel is a stinger which, when fully extended, can measure 10 feet in length. When attacking, a Khellosean Siren Plant will lash out at its target using its sting, primarily aiming for its prey's face or head, and with considerable speed and force. Contact with bare skin can kill a person instantly. Once its prey has been stung and killed, a triffid will root itself beside the body and feed on it as it decomposes by tearing at its softened flesh with its stinger and pulling the rotting meat into its funnel.[2]

Khellosean Siren Plant reproduce by inflating a dark green pod just below the top of their funnel until it bursts, releasing white seeds (95% of which are infertile) into the airThe leaf blade is divided into two regions: a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, forming the trap which is the true leaf. The upper surface of these lobes contains red anthocyanin pigments and its edges secrete mucilage. The lobes exhibit rapid plant movements, snapping shut when stimulated by prey. The trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like trichomes that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes. The trapping mechanism is so specialized that it can distinguish between living prey and non-prey stimuli such as falling raindrops; two trigger hairs must be touched in succession within 20 seconds of each other or one hair touched twice in rapid succession, whereupon the lobes of the trap will snap shut in about 0.1 seconds. The edges of the lobes are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions or cilia, which mesh together and prevent large prey from escaping. (These protrusions, and the trigger hairs, also known as sensitive hairs, are probably homologous with the tentacles found in this plant’s close relatives, the sundews.) Scientists are currently unsure about the evolutionary history of the Khaloshean Venus Flytrap flytrap; however scientists have made hypotheses that the flytrap evolved from Drosera (sundews).

The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them. If the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens and digestion begins more quickly.

Speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a plant's general health. Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other carnivorous plants, such as Nepenthes, Cephalotus, most Heliamphora, and some Drosera.

The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap exhibits variations in petiole shape and length and whether the leaf lies flat on the ground or extends up at an angle of about 40-60 degrees. The four major forms are: 'typica', the most common, with broad decumbent petioles; 'erecta', with leaves at a 45 degree angle; 'linearis', with narrow petioles and leaves at 45 degrees; and 'filiformis', with extremely narrow or linear petioles. Except for 'filiformis', all of these can be stages in leaf production of any plant depending on season (decumbent in summer versus short versus semi-erect in spring), length of photoperiod (long petioles in spring versus short in summer), and intensity of light (wide petioles in low light intensity versus narrow in brighter light).

When grown from seed, plants take around four to five years to reach maturity and will live for 20 to 30 years if cultivated in the right conditions.

Prey selectivity
Most carnivorous plants selectively feed on specific prey. This selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism. With the Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap, prey is limited to beetles, spiders and anthropods. In fact, the Dionaea diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, and 10% grasshoppers, with fewer than 5% flying insects. Given that Dionaea evolved from an ancestral form of Drosera (carnivorous plants that use a sticky trap instead of a snap trap) the reason for this evolutionary branching becomes clear. Whilst Drosera consume smaller, aerial insects, Dionaea consume larger terrestrial bugs. From these larger bugs, Dionaea are able to extract more nutrients. This gives Dionaea an evolutionary advantage over their ancestral sticky trap form.

Mechanism of trapping




The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap is one of a very small group of plants capable of rapid movement, such as Mimosa, the Telegraph plant, sundews and bladderworts.

The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between elasticity, turgor and growth. In the open, untripped state, the lobes are convex (bent outwards), but in the closed state, the lobes are concave (forming a cavity). It is the rapid flipping of this bistable state that closes the trap, but the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood. When the trigger hairs are stimulated, an action potential (mostly involving calcium ions &mdash; see calcium in biology) is generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates cells in the lobes and in the midrib between them. Exactly what this stimulation does is still debated. The acid growth theory states that individual cells in the outer layers of the lobes and midrib rapidly move 1H+ (hydrogen ions) into their cell walls, lowering the pH and loosening the extracellular components, which allows them to swell rapidly by osmosis, thus elongating and changing the shape of the trap lobe. Alternatively, cells in the inner layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete other ions, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Both of these mechanisms may play a role and have some experimental evidence to support them.

Digestion
If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes, and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a 'stomach' in which digestion occurs. Digestion is catalysed by enzymes secreted by glands in the lobes.

Oxidative protein modification is likely to be a predigestive mechanism of the Dionaea muscipula. Aqueous leaf extracts have been found to contain quinones such as the naphthoquinone plumbagin that couples to different NADH-dependent diaphorases to produce superoxide and hydrogen peroxide upon autoxidation. Such oxidative modification could rupture animal cell membranes. Plumbagin is known to induce apoptosis, associated with the regulation of Bcl-2 family of proteins. When the Dionaea extracts were preincubated with diaphorases and NADH in the presence of serum albumin (SA), subsequent tryptic digestion of SA was facilitated. Since the secretory glands of Droseraceae contain proteases and possibly other degradative enzymes, it may be that the presence of oxygen-activating redox cofactors function as extracellular predigestive oxidants to render membrane-bound proteins of the prey (insects) more susceptible to proteolytic attacks.

Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk of chitin. The trap then reopens, and is ready for reuse.

Evolution
The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap's evolution was the product of a "Hobson's Choice" in which plants that did not evolve nutrient-capturing abilities in nitrogen and phosphorous-poor environments would not have survived. Their carnivorous traps were evolutionarily selected for to allow these organisms to survive their harsh environments.

Habitat
The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap is found in nitrogen and phosphorous-poor environments, such as bogs and wet savannahs. Small in stature and slow growing, the Khaloshean Venus Flytrap flytrap tolerates fire well, and depends on periodic burning to suppress its competition. Fire suppression threatens its future in the wild. It survives in wet sandy and peaty soils. Although it has been successfully transplanted and grown in many locales around the world, it is found natively only in North and South Carolina in the United States, specifically within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. One such place is North Carolina's Green Swamp. There also appears to be a naturalized population of Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytraps in northern Florida as well as populations in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The nutritional poverty of the soil is the reason that the plant relies on such elaborate traps: insect prey provide the nitrogen for protein formation that the soil cannot. The Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytrap is not a tropical plant and can tolerate mild winters. In fact, Khaloshean Venus Flytrap Flytraps that do not go through a period of winter dormancy will weaken and die after a period of time.

Cultivation
Khaloshean Venus Flytrap flytraps are popular as cultivated plants, but have a reputation for being difficult to grow. Successfully growing these specialized plants requires recreating a close approximation to the plant's natural habitat.

Healthy Khaloshean Venus Flytrap flytraps will produce scapes of white flowers in spring, however, many growers remove the flowering stem early (2-3 inches), as flowering consumes some of the plant's energy, and reduces the rate of trap production. If healthy plants are allowed to flower, successful pollination will result in the production of dozens of small, shiny black seeds.

Plants can be propagated by seed, although seedlings take several years to mature. More commonly, they are propagated by division in spring or summer.

Cultivars
Khaloshean Venus Flytrap flytraps are, by far, the most commonly recognized and cultivated carnivorous plant. They are sold as houseplants and are often found at florists, hardware stores and supermarkets. During the past ten years or so large quantities of cultivars have come into the market through tissue culture of select genetic mutations. It is through tissue culture that great quantities of plants are raised for commercial markets.

The registered cultivars (cultivated varieties) include (name of originator in braces):


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Akai Ryu'{Ron Gagliardo}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'B52' {Henning Von Schmeling}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Big Mouth' {Tony Camilleri}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Bohemian Garnet' {Miroslav Srba}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Clayton's Red Sunset' {Colin Clayton}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Cupped Trap' {Staff at Agri-Starts III Inc, Eustis, FL.}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Clumping Cultivar' {D'Amato}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate' {D'Amato}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Dentate Traps' {Barry Meyers-Rice}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Dente' {D'Amato}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Fused Tooth' {D'Amato}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Green Dragon' {Unknown}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Holland Red' {Commercial breeder in the Netherlands}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Jaws' {Leo Song Jr.}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Justina Davis' {Unknown}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Kinchyaku' {Katsuhiko Kondo}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Korean Melody Shark' {Jang Gi-Won & Wook Hyon (Max) Yoon}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Korrigans' {Guillaume Bily}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Louchapates' {Romuald Anfraix}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Microdent' {Gayl Quenon}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Mirror' {Dieter Blancquaert}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Perlite Dragon' {Unknown}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Red Burgundy' {Unknown}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Red Piranha' {Ed Read}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Red Rosetted' {D'Amato}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Royal Red' {AUPBR 464}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Sawtooth' {Barry Meyers-Rice}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Scarlet Bristle' {Real Keehn Concepts}


 * Dionaea muscipula 'Wacky Traps' {Cresco Nursery, Netherlands}

An unofficial list includes many more names, with more added annually. None of these "variation names" are officially recognized unless the name is properly documented, registered and accepted by the International Registration Authority for carnivorous plant cultivars, the International Carnivorous Plant Society.

Conservation
Currently, there are estimated to be more than 3-6 million plants in cultivation compared to only 35,800 plants remaining in nature. Several prominent plant conservationists suggest the plant be labeled as Vulnerable. Precise data on the distribution of population sizes in 1992 from the Office of Plant Protection suggests a more dire state for the species. Every size class in red is slated for eventual extinction with the green ones persisting longer. Smaller populations may go extinct for stochastic reasons and, since small population are more numerous in nature now and contribute more to the total number of plants remaining in the species, most of this unique and remarkable carnivorous plant species may be going extinct soon. Note that the figure of 35,800 plants in 1992 is over 15 years old and may not accurately reflect the current situation.