The Plants of Neopia

There are plenty of ordinary plant species in Neopia, which follow the normal rules - they are rooted to the spot; they need sunlight to power their growth, which is fuelled by water and nutrients from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air; most of them produce flowers, which provide a meal to nectar-feeding animals in order to spread their pollen; and they grow seeds which will eventually sprout into new plants. But there are also many Neopian plants that break these rules. Some plants can uproot themselves and move about; others feed on magic instead of sunlight; several species can grow in mid-air; and a few kinds even have consciousness, and think and feel just as Neopets do. So I've put together this article full of fascinating facts about the unique plants of Neopia, to raise awareness and understanding of just how epic they are.

TREES

The Brain Tree: This unique tree is the perfect starting point for a discussion about the awesome properties of Neopian flora. The Brain Tree demonstrates the capacity of plants in Neopia to be sentient and very intelligent: it is believed that no other being in Neopia is smarter than the Brain Tree. As well as incredible brainpower, the Brain Tree has mobile branches and impressive physical strength - even though he is rooted to the ground, he is a formidable opponent in the Battledome. But despite possessing awareness, speech, mobility, and immeasurable intelligence, the Brain Tree lacks the ability to produce flowers or seeds - and as a result, he is, and always will be, the only one of his kind. (He sees this as nothing to complain about.)

Spooky trees: Found only in the Haunted Woods (plus a few in the Darigan Citadel), these trees usually look dead or diseased even when they're completely healthy. This group includes the Bent Tree, Dead Tree, Gnarled Stump, Screaming Tree, Skeletal Bush, Slimy Tree, and Smoking Tree, as well as the All-Seeing Tree which has distinctive eyeball-like seed pods. These trees have hardly any leaves, and in any case it's dark in the Haunted Woods even during the day, so the trees subsist on magical energy rather than sunshine. Broken branches are no problem for the trees, because the breaks release pollen as a fine grey dust, which reaches other trees via the wind - so what looks like mist in the Haunted Woods may actually give you a bad case of Pollenitus.

Fruit trees: How can I not mention the trees that give us some of Neopia's most legendary fruits? Neggs, Doughnutfruits, Heart Fruits, Tigersquashes and Tigerfruits are all born from trees. Neggs have a characteristic flavour that is something like an egg-flip; when you cook them and slice them you can see a "yolk" in the centre which is actually a cluster of small soft tree seeds. Neggs come in several varieties and so do Doughnutfruits, whose tiny seeds cling to the surface of the fruit like sprinkles. Tigerfruit trees produce small spherical flowers called tigerbuggles which are filled with tangy nectar; these are usually picked off and eaten before they develop into tigerfruits, but the seeds inside the fruit can be eaten as well. No wonder tigerfruit trees are so rare!

Autumnal trees: This is another group of species which is characterised by the effects of magic. Amber Clouds, Autumn Birches and Blazing Frooble Trees are fixed in fall colours all year round. Red and orange leaves aren't very good at gathering sunlight, so these trees don't grow as fast as normal green trees. Their flowers are yellow and hard to see among their leaves, but their scent is very strong: flying Petpetpets like Lightmites can find the flowers by smell alone.

Palm trees: Mystery Island is blanketed with several kinds of palm trees. The most common, called the Tiki Palm, bears the coconuts which are the favourite food of the native tribes; the Dark Island Palm produces much heavier and harder fruits which are sometimes used as cannonballs, which means it's a bad idea to stand underneath one that's bearing fruit! The scrumptious Banango fruit also grows on a palm tree. Palms can be found in Tyrannia too, where the natives sometimes eat their leaves and bark. But not all palms are so useful: one species, the Tree Weed, is a dangerous garden parasite. It produces thousands of fluffy seeds that are spread by the wind and catch on the bark of other trees, where they plant their roots and drain the sap from their host. The tree weed grows fast and is very difficult to remove once it's rooted - the best you can do to stop it spreading is to pick off its seeds and destroy them before they blow away.

Yellow Eesa Tree: This tree rates a mention because it has the largest flowers known to exist in Neopia. The Yellow Eesa Tree stands about six metres tall and blooms with sunny yellow flowers which are five feet across. Five feet across! The nectar inside the flowers is extremely delicious, and the best in the world for making honey. But the flowers appear so rarely that, apparently, they need to be seen for miles around in order to spread their pollen.

Upsidown Tree: Surprisingly, trees can be found on the moon of Kreludor as well as in Neopia. These odd trees, as their name suggests, have their roots at the top and leaves clustered around the base of the trunk; the tips of their branches extend into the ground to hold them in place. Their roots gather soil and water in mid-air, provided by Kreludan sandstorms and the spray of mist from lunar geysers. The flowers and fruits grow right at ground level and rely on crawling species of space Petpetpet to spread their pollen and seeds. It's not known how these trees came to be upside down, unless they were simply disorientated by the weak lunar gravity.

Perhaps the most famous individual plant in Neopia is the Money Tree, but apart from having branches shaped like hands which are able to hold bags of Neopoints, the Money Tree is really just an ordinary tree.

BUSHES

Fruiting bushes: Everyone in Neopia knows about the Chokato, which grows close to the ground on Mystery Island's leafy shrubs. Chokatoes have small soft seeds and a bizarre, tangy taste which simultaneously recalls chocolate and tomato. Juppie plants occur on the main continent as well as their native Mystery Island; they come in several varieties with different flavours, just as Neggs do. Snowberries employ air magic to repel heat, keeping them constantly cold even in the tropics, as a way of keeping their seeds alive for as long as possible. The Spiky Bush protects its fruits with hard, sharp spines, earning them the name Thistleberries. The Skeem plant in Brightvale normally produces fruits with rock-hard seeds, so some plants are enchanted with earth spells to grow seedless Skeem fruit.

Fire Bush: This incendiary plant is found in several scrubland regions, usually alongside Bomberry grass (which will be described later). Its leaves contain a substance which bursts into flame when the temperature exceeds 35 Centigrade, causing a grass fire which consumes other plants. Well, most other plants, anyway... the stems of Bomberry grass are resistant to fire damage. But other kinds of shrubs tend to be burnt to a crisp, making room for more Fire Bushes to grow. The flames won't cross bare ground, so sand or dirt must be spread around Fire Bushes on hot days to serve as a barrier in case a fire starts.

Frozen bushes: Some plants shed their leaves to prevent damage from ice in winter, but these plants actually shed their water. The Ice Covered Bush, Ice Cube Tree, and Ice Shrub comprise a unique group of plants, found in Neopia's coldest regions. When these plants shut down over winter, they push all the water content out of their stems and branches, where it freezes in the open air, encrusting the plants with ice. In spring when the temperature warms, the ice melts and the roots suck up the meltwater, rehydrating the plants and allowing them to grow again. These are the only plants in Neopia known to be able to survive with no water at all inside them.

Autumnal bushes: These shrubs are relatives of the autumnal trees, similarly enchanted to bear the colours of fall in all seasons, but they are much smaller in size. They include the Apricot Baubletop, Autumnal Bonsai, Corn Tree, Furry Autumn Bushes, Shedding Tree and Spherical Shrub. The Corn Tree does not actually produce corn, but is named for its golden colour and the scent of its tiny flowers, which give off the delicious smell of freshly baked corn on the cob.

FLOWERS

Star of Paradise: This exquisite species is known as Neopia's most beautiful flower, but it is extremely difficult to keep one healthy. It, like its close relative the Starflower, blooms once a year, and only in years when it has experienced the best growing conditions. Only the most skilled gardeners can persuade the plants to grow the loveliest and largest flowers, so keen gardeners have an annual contest to see whose Star of Paradise flower has the brightest colours, the most distinct markings, the perfect symmetrical shape, and the greatest size (up to two feet across).

Blade flowers: Colour Lilies and Dunkydoos, although not closely related, are both known as "blade flowers" for their sharp rigid petals. Dunkydoo flowers really are used as blades - specifically, they are favoured by ninjas as throwing stars for surprise attacks, earning the Dunkydoo the alternative name "ninja plant". (The Dunkydoo's sharp petals are meant to deter grass-eaters from munching on the flowers.) The flower of the Colour Lily is not a blade but a pinwheel, with a thin flexible stem that allows it to rotate in the wind - when the pinwheel spins, pollen is thrown off and blown away to reach other flowers.

Moltenore's Orchid: This beautiful orchid is famous for spreading all over Neopia in the wake of the climate changes that led to Moltara's discovery. The plant is loved by Moltenores for its rich nectar, and it thrives in hot conditions; when Moltara's energy suppressor failed, the heat from Neopia's core built up in the environment and created ideal growing conditions for the orchid. If you have a nice hot garden and want to grow these, then I'm sorry, but you can't - nobody has yet figured out a way of growing Moltenore's Orchid in a flowerpot. They can now be found only around the entrance to Moltara, having withdrawn from the rest of Neopia after the core suppressor was repaired and the climate returned to normal.

Antigravity Tulip: Like the Upsidown Tree, this flower grows only on Kreludor, and only in close proximity to the rare lunar geysers which provide it with water. Weirdly, no part of this plant is physically connected to any other part: the roots float just above the ground, and the stem, leaves and flower petals all hover in mid-air with half an inch of space separating them from their neighbours. It is by magic that the separate parts of the plant are bound together and prevented from drifting apart - if you try to pull them away, it'll feel like a strong magnetic force is holding them in place. Alien Aishas love to grow these flowers; you can tell when the seed is about to sprout because it rises into the air, leaving room for the roots and stems to grow in the empty space around it. The leaves and petals can be boiled to obtain an extract which, when added to food, makes the food immune to the force of gravity.

Meepit Oaks Flower: Possessing strong magical properties and impressive longevity (a single flower can continue blooming for years), this plant was the final ingredient in Sophie's antidote to the insidious potion that cursed the town of Neovia. Its flowers can last a very long time because the seeds form on the flower's stem, where they eventually detach, leaving the blossom intact. The flowers are often used in healing potions to bind together the magic of the other ingredients. For some reason, the plant has never been found outside the walls of the abandoned Meepit Oaks Sanitorium.

Snake Rose: This garden shrub is definitely worth a mention. The tips of the flowers are very mobile and writhe like serpents, to frighten off Petpets that might try to eat the plant. The movement also attracts the attention of tiny insects that feed on the nectar inside, thus pollinating the flowers. Snake Roses have yellow petals at their base; when they open, the purple "snake" begins moving. When the flowers die, the movement gradually slows to a stop, and the purple section falls off to reveal a capsule of seeds.

Other flowers: Many more kinds of flowers in Neopia go to considerable lengths to avoid trouble and attract pollinators. Sunday Bush flowers open only one day a week (hence the name) because it takes six whole days to produce more nectar once a group of Buzzers has taken a drink - while the flower refills its nectary, it closes its petals and gives off a nasty smell to let everyone know that it's not currently open for business. Sillie Daisies look like smiley faces with their tongues poking out, but that "tongue" is actually a landing pad for the Springabees that visit the flowers. Swirlypop Plants seal their nectar in lollypop-shaped flowers with tiny openings that only Beekadoodles can get their beaks into. The strange Purple Frillix has long, thin pink tendrils that wave around above its flowers - Batterflies, whose eyesight is very sensitive to movement, can find the flowers even during the darkest nights.

There are other flowering plants which are unique to Neopia, but otherwise unremarkable. They include blue fan flowers, jewel blossoms, Lazydels, Pebeanjay plants, perfume mallows, Rainbow Morning flowers, Scented Hearts, white lulu, and yolkalias.

BULBS

Budseed: This species is actually not that extraordinary, except for the fact that its bulbs are explosive. The Budseed is capable of growing new bulbs from its roots, which crawl over the surface of the ground - but the bulbs occasionally fill with seeds, packed under pressure, so they burst on impact and spray their seeds everywhere. Since the seeds aren't likely to be thrown further than the roots can reach, you have to wonder why the plant goes to all that trouble, don't you?

Atrabud: Now this is a bulb! This plant occurs in dry wastelands and is known for its ability to sprout out of bare rock. In the badlands beyond the Haunted Woods, where it only rains a couple of times a year, the Atrabud's tiny seeds will grow in crevices in rock where there's just a tiny bit of soil. The seed swells into a large bulb, which stores water all year; if there's enough room, the roots can spread out and grow more bulbs. The bulb has bright red blotches on it which are far more obvious than the dull yellow flowers. The Atrabud only has leaves after rain and yet it grows all the time, so apparently the plant feeds on heat or magic as well as light.

Pineflower: No, this plant does not produce pineapples... it's named for the scent of its small yellow blossoms, which have an aroma similar to fresh pine needles. The Pineflower is mainly notable for its odd appearance: the central bulb is eight inches in diameter and red in colour, sitting on top of the ground with leaves sprouting from underneath it. The flowers are perched on top, supported by thin stems. Pineflowers look so out of this world that lots of people would love to have one in their garden, but the Pineflower is a fickle thing and will only grow where conditions are absolutely perfect. Even if you do find an ideal location, the plant won't grow even one yard away because the soil there is slightly different! But if the Pineflower does find perfection in the soil around it, it will grow new bulbs.

Edible bulbs and roots: Geopeppers, Grunions, Tami Veggie Plants, Ummagines and Wartroots are all popular foods in Neopia, although only Ummagines are palatable on their own. Ummagines grow a couple of metres underground and are difficult to dig up, so recently Sakhmetians have begun cultivating the plants in shallow vessels so the Ummagine root is easier to extract; the root is a staple of the Lost Desert diet and popular all over the world for its creamy yet savoury flavour. Geopeppers and Grunions are best used as spices, since they both have a powerful eye-watering burn. Tami Veggies are not very flavoursome, so they're normally only used in stews and casseroles - although they're also excellent pumpkin substitutes for making jack-o-lanterns. Wartroots are a favourite food of Mutant Neopets for their lip-curling bitterness; the common yellow variety is gross enough, but in the species known as Raw Wartroot a fungus grows on the surface of the root and stores its spores in small capsules, which will give you a nasty case of NeoWarts if they burst!

VINES AND GROUND-COVERS

Climbers: Anyone who's seen an abandoned house in the Haunted Woods will know that some plants like nothing better than crawling up large structures - the Haunted House is infested with Wiltadendhron vines, one of the more common climbing plants. Spine Vines, named for their skeletal appearance, are often found in decrepit stone buildings or dank dungeons, and survive the darkness by feeding on magical energy. Blue Twisters are found in cool forests; their flowers always face the sun, but instead of just the flower turning towards the light, the whole vine rotates! This gives the Blue Twister its characteristic wound-up stems.

Fruit-bearing vines: Just like fruit-bearing trees and bushes, the number of vines whose fruits are edible is too great to list, so I'll just describe a few. The Curly Vines you get from the Gardening Store don't look promising as a source of food, but they do produce Thornberries - unlike thistleberries, the "spines" of a thornberry are soft, so it's safe to eat them whole. The Twirly Plant grows (surprise, surprise!) Twirly Fruits; no one knows exactly why the plant's stems and fruits always curl up as they grow. Twisting Vines are known to wriggle occasionally in order to dislodge Fleafs, Blechy and other pests; the vine forms a hollow coil before its fruit, called a Vinarok, grows in the centre. The succulent Agueena fruit, native to Mystery Island, also grows on a vine.

Flowering vines: One of the most interesting plant species in Neopia is the Orb Plant. This vine climbs thin trees until it reaches sunshine, at which point it produces its bizarre and beautiful flowers - a clear glass-like sphere in the centre, surrounded by several stalks tipped with blue balls of pollen. The pollen is spread using light magic, triggered by refracting the sun's rays through the central globe of the flower (which also produces a dazzling light show). Flowering vines are also found at the foot of Terror Mountain - many houses in Happy Valley have blumbs adorning their walls and gardens; these are the softly glowing blossoms of the blumb vine, which loses its leaves in winter and replaces them with lovely seasonal-looking flowers.

Snakebush: This aggressive plant is a serious pest. It grows very rapidly, and moves on its own to search for new places to set down roots. If unwary gardeners don't keep it in check by pruning it regularly, it has a habit of seeking out drains and pipes and thrusting its tendrils inside to suck up the water - and when it finds a good supply of water, it can grow up to a ton of new vines every hour. It then becomes almost impossible to get rid of: remove its roots from one drain, and by then the Snakebush will have reached another. The more water it drinks, the faster it grows; whole cities have been known to disappear under the weight of these horrifying vines. The only way to stop them is by putting salt in the water, because when the root system sucks up salt, the whole network of vines will quickly wither and die.

Garden ground-covers: When you're looking for something to fill your garden beds, you'll want a plant that prefers to crawl rather than climb. Blossoms and Feather Weeds both hug the ground, forming a nice little blanket which can surround your trees or looks great on its own. The Blossom has no leaves and takes in sunlight through its flowers, which also allow the plant to grow seeds - thus tackling two Pawkeets with one stone! Feather Weeds are a type of grass, distinguished by the fluffy edges of their leaves - the leaves flush red if it's hot and dry, because the plant cuts off the sap supply to its leaves to avoid losing too much water. The leaves will turn green again when it rains, so they're handy to have in the garden to let you know when to bring out the watering can.

Berry plants: Peachpa and Bomberries both grow from ground-cover plants which sprawl over vast plains and hillsides. Peachpa fruits have a delectably sweet flavour and are often added to desserts; in the wild, the plants produce so much fruit that huge areas of land are engulfed with delicious pink berries, attracting all kinds of creatures to reap the harvest. The appearance of Bomberries is less predictable, since Bomberry Grass only comes into fruit after a fire - hence, it thrives alongside Fire Bushes, which ignite on hot days. Very occasionally, the Bomberries themselves (which produce heat energy as they grow) can also overheat and combust, which is what earns them their name. They taste sensational, though!

Mordongos: This weird species can be either a climbing vine or a ground-cover plant depending on where it's located: it's not fussy about which way it grows. It has no sense of direction at all - and no sense of gravity either. By some bizarre magic, Mordongos can drift in mid-air, using their roots to collect moisture in the atmosphere as fuel for growth. The danger of leaving them airborne is that if they grow too much and are carried by the wind into a town or city, they can overrun it the way Snakebushes do; for this reason, gardeners are advised to keep their Mordongos' roots planted safely in terra firma.

SUCCULENTS

Cacti: When many people think of succulent plants they think of the cactus, and Neopia has some fascinating species. The Barrel Cactus is fairly ordinary except that it usually looks crumpled; its roots soak up the annual rains and the crumpled stem smooths out as it inflates to store the water, hence the name "barrel cactus". In Tyrannia there is a species of cactus that lives in the sea, is red in colour and always produces eight stalks; Cactopus are valued for their sap, which is used to treat Reptillioritus. The Floating Cactus Flower has seven stalks - and it isn't actually a flower, it's just shaped like one. In the Lost Desert where it grows, it's all too common for plants to get covered with sand; but the Floating Cactus has magical seeds: when they sprout, the plant appears a few inches above the ground, so it doesn't get buried. The wedge-shaped Large Thorn Growth is found in the Haunted Woods where light is scarce; it is always aligned north to south, so its sides catch the maximum amount of morning and afternoon sunshine.

Edible succulents: Neopia has several of these, most of which are from Tyrannia. Farn Plants and Honey Blossoms have edible leaves, whereas Blue Toobers and Sack Plants have edible stems. In the Lost Desert, a local favourite is the Bagguss, which is very tasty but protects itself with a foul smell; it needs water to give off its stink, so you have to cut it open and dry it out before eating a Bagguss. The rare TeaLeef Plant from Neopia Central is bright red with black spots, and its refreshing green fruits look remarkably like leaves, so those that feed on leaves will only eat what the plant wants them to eat. Plantmelons are not fruits but entire plants, which grow to huge sizes and taste like unripe watermelon.

Red Walking Flower: This unique plant is able to uproot itself and move around, thanks to its very shallow roots and sturdy downward-pointing leaves. The leaf tips push against the ground until the roots release their grip, and then the whole plant shuffles along on the ends of its leaves as though walking on tip-toe. The walking flower wanders around in search of rich soil and strong sunshine, and when it finds a good spot, it plants itself there. And if anything tries to eat the plant, those leaves can deliver a surprisingly hard whack!

Purple Grasper: Found in the depths of the Haunted Woods as well as the jungles of Tyrannia, the purple grasper is another plant capable of movement, although it can't uproot itself. It has a grippy skin and strong finger-like growths on its stems; it can sense the heat given off by creatures passing by, and the "fingers" automatically move to seize them, keeping a firm hold until they drop some dung, which nourishes the plant. If a purple grasper gets plenty of visitors and thus plenty of dung, it can grow to incredible sizes - the largest, nicknamed the Purple Megalith, was said to have been 100 feet high! But the grasper's habit of chasing heat can give it a nasty surprise if it accidentally puts its stems into an open fire...

Garden succulents: The Boadaisy and Rubber Plant are both sold in the Gardening Store due to their vibrant colours. Neither of these plants has any leaves, but the Boadaisy can gather sunlight with its green stem, which is adorned with handsome magenta stripes that match the colour of its flowers. The rubber plant, however, is pale purple with light orange blotches: it has no green anywhere. But in Neopia, who says plants have to be green to enjoy the sunshine? The rubber plant lives partly on magic and thrives almost anywhere - and since it's too tough to chew, it's a very resilient plaything (not to mention entertaining) for your family Petpets.

Bud Cacti: There is a class of cacti in Tyrannia that is distinguished by large lumps on their stems. Bud Bud plants have capsules of oil on them; the oil has several uses for Tyrannian locals, who extract it from the plant by squeezing the buds. Cactus Blossoms have similar capsules on them which are filled instead with sweet nectar. Spore Blossoms have fungus growing inside their black buds, which release a vile spray of stinking spores when they detect vigorous movement, thus defending the plant against being picked - unless the attacker is really fast! Tyrannians, known Neopia-wide for their unfussy eating habits, will consume the Bud Bud and Spore Blossom as well as the flowers of the cactus blossom.

AQUATIC PLANTS

Cheery Plant: In the Old Fishing Vortex near Maraqua, fishing lines catch on many more objects than just fish. The Cheery Plant is one of the water plants you can reel in, and is distinguished by smiley faces on its leaves and a unique hollow stem. The stem resembles an empty sea shell, and it grows this way on purpose: the venomous Neucloop finds the cavity in the stem to be a perfect place for a nest, which it then guards fiercely against anything that might threaten its eggs - or the cheery plant. Any Urgoni or Flippy hoping to nibble a leaf will be driven off by the Neucloop's vicious sting. But the Neucloop is no defence against a fishing line that catches on the edge of the cheery plant's stem - fortunately for the plant, though, no Neopet is able to stomach it.

Common ocean plants: These are frequently caught in the Fishing Vortex; for the most part they're fairly ordinary, but there are a few interesting things to note. The Giant Kelp is related to a type of plant that's too small to see, which grows inside corals and gives them their colour; the Giant Kelp also comes in a variety of colours. Sea ferns and seaweeds come in several colours too, and even patterns - the Starry Sea Fern and Grey Sea Fern are magical and used as ingredients to make their respective paint brushes. Shimmery Seagrass occurs both in the Fishing Vortex and in Kiko Lake; it sometimes has Jawshells hiding in it, which will bite anything that tries to graze on the seagrass (which sometimes results in items in your inventory being eaten).

Void Plant: How is it even possible to catch one of these things with a fishing rod? The Void Plant has a unique and amazing way of gathering light - its leaves are comprised of pure shadow. These shadows spread out from the roots, which lie just beneath the sand on the sea bed. (Presumably the fishing hook catches on the plant's roots, not its insubstantial leaves.) Despite being totally flat, the "leaves" move with the waves and currents. The magic that allows the Void Plant to sit two-dimensionally against a flat surface makes it a key ingredient in the 8-bit Power-up Potion, which converts Neopets into simple pixels... and the magic that allows Void Plant leaves to take the form of pure darkness is linked to the infamous Shadow Wraiths, so the plant is also used to make Wraith Paint Brushes. There is also said to be a connection between the fading of the Void Plant's shadows and the magic of the mythical Dimensional Faeries.

Petpets: The Kelpflake and the Sandpoint are sentient oceanic plants which Neopets sometimes keep as companions; they are close relatives, but live very different lives. In the ocean, there is food on the sea bed and sunlight near the surface; Sandpoints live in shallow water because it has plenty of both, but that means there's a risk of getting washed ashore. You can find Sandpoints on the beaches of Mystery Island at low tide, and they quite like being patted, although they are slimy and rather gross to touch. Kelpflakes live in the deep sea - during the daytime they come to the surface waters to bathe in sunlight, and at night they descend into the depths to gather the nutrients there. These two species are fascinating plants, but rather dull Petpets.

There is also a variety of edible plants and corals in Maraqua, especially around the ruins of Old Maraqua. But sadly, not a lot of information is available about these species - other than that they come in a range of very unexpected yet delicious flavours: eggs and beans, candy floss, pineapple, and vegetarian-friendly beef. These plants were once sold in a food store in Old Maraqua, but are now only used as ingredients at Kelp Restaurant.

CARNIVOROUS PLANTS

Dragonbud: These are popular garden plants, especially in the Darigan Citadel where their appearance matches the local taste in architecture. Dragonbuds have the ability to see - or more specifically, the ability to visually sense movement at close range; they can't actually form images of their surroundings. They are also fast movers, in order to catch bugs. If something large moves close to a Dragonbud, it will try to dodge it; but if something very small moves, that big grey "flower" will open and the Dragonbud will try to score a meal. Putting these in your garden a metre apart will allow them to pick off Glymes, Blechy, Rainblugs and other pests from neighbouring plants. This will keep your entire garden healthy.

Negg Muncher: Strictly speaking, this plant is not a carnivore because it doesn't just eat meat - it can digest fruits as well as insects. It is related to carnivorous plants but has developed a taste for Neggs, which it can detect by smell (although, like the Dragonbud, it senses insects by watching for movement). The plant's head sits on top of a coiled stem, which it can suddenly straighten when its next meal comes within two feet of it. It's a very bad idea to keep a Negg Muncher in the kitchen... I don't really need to explain why, do I?

Rashpid: You can find these gentle Petpets within the great Meteor of Kreludor, because they crawl inside it, attracted by the heat. They are thought to have made it to Kreludor as seeds, carried by an unwitting traveller. On planet Neopia, Rashpids are nocturnal and live in cool, secluded forests; they can pull up their roots and walk around at night in search of slow-moving insects and worms to eat, then plant themselves in a sunny spot during the day. They can't see, but they have an acute sense of touch, and they can feel sunlight due to its warmth (which is why they are drawn to the hot meteor on Kreludor). When a Neopet comes near, a Rashpid will lean towards them and snuggle up for a hug - but this is only because Rashpids enjoy body heat, not because of affection. Still, it's pretty adorable... at least until you find yourself entwined in leafy tendrils.

Snap Blorga: This bizarre plant is a native of Kreludor, particularly the area surrounding Orange Central, and it is commonly kept in pots inside the homes of native Grundos. It has a blotchy orange stem with a very thick base, and at the top of the stem is an opening ringed with sharp teeth. Like Rashpids, Snap Blorgas can break free of the ground and wander about in search of food - they love the Snailiens and Wormoebas that often scavenge in Kreludan kitchens. The stems usually bear one or two scarlet leaves; the plant feeds on gamma energy from space, rather than the dim sunlight. When the lunar winds are strong enough, a Snap Blorga develops a violent sneeze which it uses to spread its pollen, and later, its seeds.

Geraptiku Fly Trap: This is perhaps the most aggressive and dangerous plant in all of Neopia - if it grows large enough. Its mobile stem and ravenous jaws move to attack and devour anything that comes within reach, provided it's smaller than the plant itself. If a Geraptiku Fly Trap eats too much, it can grow big enough to eat Neopets and won't hesitate to do so - but at least it can't uproot itself to give chase. Jake the Explorer once had a narrow escape from a huge and hungry Geraptiku Fly Trap after meeting one on his adventures. But despite the terrible danger posed by a full-sized Geraptiku Fly Trap, the smallest ones are extremely useful around the house: leave one in the kitchen and it will eagerly gobble up all your insect pests - but whatever you do, don't let your Geraptiku Fly Trap get bigger than a seedling!

And finally, we come to Neopia's most sophisticated sentient flora - they are, of course, the Woodland Neopets and Woodland Petpets. The magical ingredients of the Woodland Paint Brush's paint, combined with the effects of the Rainbow Pool's enchantment, can endow a pet with many of the characteristics that define a plant: leaves and branches, thick bark for skin, a thirst for sunlight, and the ability to produce oxygen. Woodland pets are even able to grow flowers, but these are purely ornamental: they have no pollen or nectar, and will never develop seeds. So even though the Woodland Paint Brush blurs the distinction between flora and fauna, there are still some things that only plants can do.

You have to agree... the plants of Neopia are awesome.