Triffid
Encyclopedia
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venom
ous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham
's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids
and Simon Clark
's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids
.
Triffids were also featured in the 1957 BBC radio dramatization of Wyndham's book, a considerably altered film adaptation which was produced in 1962, a more faithful 1981 television serial produced by the BBC
, and in a 2009 two-part TV series
also produced by the BBC.
Since 1951, when The Day of the Triffids was first published, the word "triffid" has become a popular British English
colloquial term used to describe large or menacing looking plants.
in origin:
The 1981 TV series and some editions of the book have Masen speculating that the triffids were the creation of the real-life Soviet biologist
Trofim Lysenko
. According to Masen's narration, the triffids first came to the attention of the Western world
when a man named Umberto Christoforo Palanguez presented the Arctic & European Fish Oil Company with a mysterious vegetable oil originating from Russia. Once the scientists of Arctic & European realised how potent the oil was, Palanguez' offer to smuggle some seeds of the plant out of Russia was accepted. Palanguez disappeared, but Masen guesses that his plane carrying the triffid seeds was shot down by the Red Airforce, allowing the seeds to be carried all over the globe by wind.
, where they receive little press attention, until triffids begin appearing in Sumatra
, Borneo
, Belgian Congo
, Colombia
, Brazil
and other equatorial regions. Although they develop faster in tropical zones, triffids soon begin establishing themselves in many regions outside the polar
and desert
regions. Once it is discovered that triffids are predatory creatures, they are culled in large numbers and almost exterminated until it is discovered that they are also the source of the valuable oil. Once it is established that docking
their stingers renders them harmless, docked triffids soon become fashionable in public and private gardens. As it takes triffids two years to fully regrow their stings, captive triffids need to be pruned every year. Triffid farms are built in order to produce triffid oil, which is of greater quality when taken from undocked specimens.
, thus forcing the majority of survivors to escape to the Isle of Wight
and other islands. In The Night of the Triffids, set 25 years after the events of Day, triffids in the British Isles are still valued as energy and food sources. Due to a yearly purge Triffids remain absent in the Isle of Wight, until they are transported there by large floating mats of debris and vegetation. Triffids also become more aggressive, as a comet shower has blotted out the sun and thus necessitates them to increase their nutritional intake.
In North America, triffids begin evolving new shapes and behaviours: standard triffids develop a form of echolocation, swamp-dwelling triffids become fully aquatic and a small number of super-sized triffids attack New York
. Members of the Algonquin tribe manage to escape attack due to their immunity to triffid venom. By the end of the sequel, it is revealed that due to their constant exposure to small doses of triffid venom present in their food, a quarter of the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight are immune to triffid venom, thus encouraging them to return to the British mainland.
According to the novel, the fictitious triffid can be divided into three components: base, trunk, and head (which contains a venomous sting). In The Day of the Triffids, adult triffids are described as measuring on average seven feet in height. European triffids never exceed eight feet, while those living in tropical areas can reach 10 feet. In The Night of the Triffids, a small number of North American triffids manage to reach 60 feet in height.
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 character Masen describes the triffid's locomotion as such:
Above the base are upturned leafless sticks which the triffid drums against its stem. The exact purpose of this is not fully explained in The Day of the Triffids. It is originally assumed that they are used to attract mates, although Bill Masen's colleague, Walter Lucknor, believes that they are really employed for communication. It is revealed that removal of these sticks causes the triffid to physically deteriorate. In The Night of the Triffids, the character Gabriel Deeds speculates that the vibrations made by the triffid's sticks serve as a form of echolocation
.
The upper part of a triffid 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 triffid 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.
Triffids 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 air.
Aquatic triffids appear in The Night of the Triffids, but remain largely unseen, with the exceptions of their stingers which are described as being prehensile, unlike those of land based triffids.
, they nonetheless display what he considers intelligence through their killing method:
Later, after the Great Blinding, the triffids are observed to herd blind people into cramped spaces in order to pick them off more easily. Triffids are also observed to root themselves beside houses, waiting for the occupants to come out.
Triffids made their first screen appearance in Steve Sekely
's 1962 film adaptation. The triffids are portrayed as extraterrestrial lifeforms transported to Earth by comets. This is directly contradictory of the literary source, in which Bill Masen states:
This is later reinforced in The Night of the Triffids, in which a young David Masen replies negatively to his teacher's question as to whether or not triffids are extraterrestrial.
The 1962 film triffids (now given the binomial name Triffidus celestus) also differ physically from how they are described in the books: the film triffids were designed with flaying tentacles below their stems, which they use as slashing weapons and to drag their dead prey toward them. Also, their stinger is shown as a gas propelled projectile, rather than a coiled tendril. Finally, the film triffids are shown as being vulnerable to sea water, which has the effect of dissolving them.
Triffids later appeared in the 1981 BBC serial, in which they are portrayed accurately to the book. Designed by Steve Drewett, the triffids were operated by a man crouched inside, cooled by a fan installed in its neck; the 'clackers' were radio controlled. The gnarled bole, based on the ginseng root, was made of latex with a covering of sawdust and string while the neck was fibreglass and continued down to the floor, where it joined with the operator's seat. The plants were surmounted by a flexible rubber head, coated with clear gunge. After the end of the production one was displayed for a time in the Natural History Museum in London, where Drewett had once been employed. Some inferior copies of the props later threw a cocktail party for Angus Deayton
during an episode of Alexei Sayle's Stuff
.
In the 2009 two-part TV series
, the triffids are portrayed as being a naturally occurring species from Zaire
, which is discovered by the West and selectively bred as an alternative to fossil fuels in order to avert global warming
. The triffid design differs from the descriptions given in the original novel; rather than walking on three blunt stumps, the triffids drag themselves with prehensile roots which are also used to constrict prey. Their stalk is surrounded by large agave
-like leaves, and they secrete their oil (green rather than pale pink) from their surfaces. Their stingers, which in previous film adaptations could not penetrate glass, are powerful enough to shatter windows, true to the original triffids of the novel. Instead of a cup they have a pink flower-like head, resembling a cross between a lily and a sweet pea, that enlarges before releasing the sting.
In the real world - as opposed to fictional appearances - Chromolaena odorata
is known as a Triffid throughout the Durban
area of South Africa. The similarity of these plants to the fictional Triffid is in name only, however, as they pose no threat to humans and have, in fact, medicinal qualities.
Triffids are mentioned in the opening song
of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
soundtrack, where it is said that it "spits poison and kills..."
Venom
Venom is the general term referring to any variety of toxins used by certain types of animals that inject it into their victims by the means of a bite or a sting...
ous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
and Simon Clark
Simon Clark
Simon Clark is a horror novel writer from Doncaster, England. One of his most notable works is the novel The Night of the Triffids.Clark has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, World Fantasy Award for Best Novella and British Fantasy Award...
's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids
The Night of the Triffids
The Night of the Triffids is a science fiction novel by Simon Clark published in 2001. It is a sequel to John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. Clark has been commended for his success at mimicking Wyndham's style, but most reviewers have not rated his creation as highly as the original 1951 work...
.
Triffids were also featured in the 1957 BBC radio dramatization of Wyndham's book, a considerably altered film adaptation which was produced in 1962, a more faithful 1981 television serial produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, and in a 2009 two-part TV series
The Day of the Triffids (2009 TV series)
The Day of the Triffids is a BBC two-part television adaptation of John Wyndham's novel of the same name. The novel had previously been adapted by the BBC in a 1981 miniseries.-Part one:...
also produced by the BBC.
Since 1951, when The Day of the Triffids was first published, the word "triffid" has become a popular British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
colloquial term used to describe large or menacing looking plants.
Origins
The origin of the triffid species is never fully revealed in Wyndham's novel. The novel's central character, Bill Masen, dismisses the idea that they are a naturally occurring species, or that they are extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
in origin:
The 1981 TV series and some editions of the book have Masen speculating that the triffids were the creation of the real-life Soviet biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
Trofim Lysenko
Trofim Lysenko
Trofim Denisovich Lysenko was a Soviet agronomist of Ukrainian origin, who was director of Soviet biology under Joseph Stalin. Lysenko rejected Mendelian genetics in favor of the hybridization theories of Russian horticulturist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, and adopted them into a powerful...
. According to Masen's narration, the triffids first came to the attention of the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
when a man named Umberto Christoforo Palanguez presented the Arctic & European Fish Oil Company with a mysterious vegetable oil originating from Russia. Once the scientists of Arctic & European realised how potent the oil was, Palanguez' offer to smuggle some seeds of the plant out of Russia was accepted. Palanguez disappeared, but Masen guesses that his plane carrying the triffid seeds was shot down by the Red Airforce, allowing the seeds to be carried all over the globe by wind.
Name
According to Wyndham's novel, the name Triffid alludes to the plant's three leg-like protusions and was originally "trifid", Latin for "split into three parts".Initial outbreaks and exploitation
The first documented triffid outbreaks occur in IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, where they receive little press attention, until triffids begin appearing in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and other equatorial regions. Although they develop faster in tropical zones, triffids soon begin establishing themselves in many regions outside the polar
Polar region
Earth's polar regions are the areas of the globe surrounding the poles also known as frigid zones. The North Pole and South Pole being the centers, these regions are dominated by the polar ice caps, resting respectively on the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica...
and desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
regions. Once it is discovered that triffids are predatory creatures, they are culled in large numbers and almost exterminated until it is discovered that they are also the source of the valuable oil. Once it is established that docking
Docking (animal)
Docking is a term for the intentional removal of part of an animal's tail or ears. The term cropping is also used, though more commonly in reference to the cropping of ears, while docking more commonly—but not exclusively—refers to the tail. The term tailing is also commonly used...
their stingers renders them harmless, docked triffids soon become fashionable in public and private gardens. As it takes triffids two years to fully regrow their stings, captive triffids need to be pruned every year. Triffid farms are built in order to produce triffid oil, which is of greater quality when taken from undocked specimens.
During and after the Great Blinding
After a large part of the Earth's human population is rendered blind by a brightly coloured comet shower, triffids begin escaping confinement and easily kill large numbers of blinded people. They soon overrun mainland Europe and the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, thus forcing the majority of survivors to escape to the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and other islands. In The Night of the Triffids, set 25 years after the events of Day, triffids in the British Isles are still valued as energy and food sources. Due to a yearly purge Triffids remain absent in the Isle of Wight, until they are transported there by large floating mats of debris and vegetation. Triffids also become more aggressive, as a comet shower has blotted out the sun and thus necessitates them to increase their nutritional intake.
In North America, triffids begin evolving new shapes and behaviours: standard triffids develop a form of echolocation, swamp-dwelling triffids become fully aquatic and a small number of super-sized triffids attack New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Members of the Algonquin tribe manage to escape attack due to their immunity to triffid venom. By the end of the sequel, it is revealed that due to their constant exposure to small doses of triffid venom present in their food, a quarter of the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight are immune to triffid venom, thus encouraging them to return to the British mainland.
Appearance and habits
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 character Masen describes the triffid's locomotion as such:
Above the base are upturned leafless sticks which the triffid drums against its stem. The exact purpose of this is not fully explained in The Day of the Triffids. It is originally assumed that they are used to attract mates, although Bill Masen's colleague, Walter Lucknor, believes that they are really employed for communication. It is revealed that removal of these sticks causes the triffid to physically deteriorate. In The Night of the Triffids, the character Gabriel Deeds speculates that the vibrations made by the triffid's sticks serve as a form of echolocation
Acoustic location
Acoustic location is the science of using sound to determine the distance and direction of something. Location can be done actively or passively, and can take place in gases , liquids , and in solids .* Active acoustic location involves the creation of sound in order to produce an echo, which is...
.
The upper part of a triffid consists of a stem ending in a funnel-like formation containing a sticky substance which traps insects, much like a pitcher plant
Pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
. Also housed within the funnel is a stinger which, when fully extended, can measure 10 feet in length. When attacking, a triffid 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.
Triffids 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 air.
Aquatic triffids appear in The Night of the Triffids, but remain largely unseen, with the exceptions of their stingers which are described as being prehensile, unlike those of land based triffids.
Intelligence
A recurring theme in The Day of the Triffids is whether or not triffids are intelligent or merely acting on set instincts. The character Walter Lucknor states that although triffids lack a central nervous systemCentral nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
, they nonetheless display what he considers intelligence through their killing method:
Later, after the Great Blinding, the triffids are observed to herd blind people into cramped spaces in order to pick them off more easily. Triffids are also observed to root themselves beside houses, waiting for the occupants to come out.
Appearances
Steve Sekely
Steve Sekely was a Hungarian film director. Born Székely István, he was known by several names, based on his changing professional and immigration status, including Stefan Szekely.He directed films in Hungarian, German, and English....
's 1962 film adaptation. The triffids are portrayed as extraterrestrial lifeforms transported to Earth by comets. This is directly contradictory of the literary source, in which Bill Masen states:
This is later reinforced in The Night of the Triffids, in which a young David Masen replies negatively to his teacher's question as to whether or not triffids are extraterrestrial.
The 1962 film triffids (now given the binomial name Triffidus celestus) also differ physically from how they are described in the books: the film triffids were designed with flaying tentacles below their stems, which they use as slashing weapons and to drag their dead prey toward them. Also, their stinger is shown as a gas propelled projectile, rather than a coiled tendril. Finally, the film triffids are shown as being vulnerable to sea water, which has the effect of dissolving them.
Triffids later appeared in the 1981 BBC serial, in which they are portrayed accurately to the book. Designed by Steve Drewett, the triffids were operated by a man crouched inside, cooled by a fan installed in its neck; the 'clackers' were radio controlled. The gnarled bole, based on the ginseng root, was made of latex with a covering of sawdust and string while the neck was fibreglass and continued down to the floor, where it joined with the operator's seat. The plants were surmounted by a flexible rubber head, coated with clear gunge. After the end of the production one was displayed for a time in the Natural History Museum in London, where Drewett had once been employed. Some inferior copies of the props later threw a cocktail party for Angus Deayton
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. He is best known for his role as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy series One Foot in the Grave...
during an episode of Alexei Sayle's Stuff
Alexei Sayle's Stuff
Alexei Sayle's Stuff is a comedy sketch show which ran on BBC2 for a total of 18 episodes over 3 series from 1988 to 1991.-Cast:Alexei Sayle's Stuff stars stand-up comedian Alexei Sayle, with a recurring cast including Angus Deayton, Mark Williams, Arabella Weir, Tony Millan, Jan Ravens, Owen...
.
In the 2009 two-part TV series
The Day of the Triffids (2009 TV series)
The Day of the Triffids is a BBC two-part television adaptation of John Wyndham's novel of the same name. The novel had previously been adapted by the BBC in a 1981 miniseries.-Part one:...
, the triffids are portrayed as being a naturally occurring species from Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, which is discovered by the West and selectively bred as an alternative to fossil fuels in order to avert global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. The triffid design differs from the descriptions given in the original novel; rather than walking on three blunt stumps, the triffids drag themselves with prehensile roots which are also used to constrict prey. Their stalk is surrounded by large agave
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
-like leaves, and they secrete their oil (green rather than pale pink) from their surfaces. Their stingers, which in previous film adaptations could not penetrate glass, are powerful enough to shatter windows, true to the original triffids of the novel. Instead of a cup they have a pink flower-like head, resembling a cross between a lily and a sweet pea, that enlarges before releasing the sting.
In the real world - as opposed to fictional appearances - Chromolaena odorata
Chromolaena odorata
Chromolaena odorata is a species of flowering shrub in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It is native to North America, from Florida and Texas to Mexico and the Caribbean, and has been introduced to tropical Asia, west Africa, and parts of Australia. Common names include Siam Weed, Christmas Bush,...
is known as a Triffid throughout the Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
area of South Africa. The similarity of these plants to the fictional Triffid is in name only, however, as they pose no threat to humans and have, in fact, medicinal qualities.
Triffids are mentioned in the opening song
Science Fiction/Double Feature
"Science Fiction/Double Feature" is the opening song to the original 1973 musical stage production, The Rocky Horror Show as well as its 1975 film counterpart The Rocky Horror Picture Show, book, music and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, musical arrangements by Richard Hartley...
of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
soundtrack, where it is said that it "spits poison and kills..."