RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 «The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid»: From Plant Science To Victorian Horror From a Multidisciplinary Approach
A1 Poveda, Jorge
AB Plants are organisms whose great biological distance from humans has aroused cultural interest as powerful and/or dangerously unfamiliar creatures, especially during the Vic-torian period. «The Flowering of the Strange Orchid» (1894), by Herbert George Wells, tells how an orchid collector is attacked to near death by his latest acquisition. The plant attacks the human with its «tentacle-like aerial rootlets», like a vampire feeding on his blood.  However,  Winter-Wedderburn  is  saved  by  his  housekeeper,  and  the  plant  dies  instantly.  The  story  is  written  at  a  historical  moment  of  great  fascination  with  orchids  and carnivorous plants. Literarily, the story has numerous comparisons to great charac-ters, such as Medusa and her tentacles, Dracula, Carmilla, and even IT. At the same time, it is a story with a strong plant science content, dealing with aspects such as the mecha-nisms used by orchids to obtain nutrients, their flowering, the importance of «hunting» for  the  survival  of  carnivorous  plants  or  the  biology  of  parasitic  plants.  In  conclusion,  Wells’ story makes an important critique of the way man relates to nature using literary fiction and the cutting-edge plant science knowledge of his time.
PB Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
YR 2023
FD 2023-06
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/71027
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/71027
LA eng
NO Pérez, F. J. S. V., & Poveda, J. (2023). «The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid»: From Plant Science To Victorian Horror From a Multidisciplinary Approach. Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 11(1), 21-43.
DS UVaDOC
RD 25-nov-2024