Sheep-Eating Plant Blooms After 15 Years In UK Garden; How The Chili-Native Puya chilensis Kills Animals

After 15 years, finally, a sheep-eating plant in a garden in England has now bloomed.

Sheep-eating plant, also known as Puya chilensis, has been growing at the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Wisley in England and Hufftington Post reported that this oddly popular plant species has successfully produced its first flower already. The sheep-eating plant is now 10-ft tall and its base is full of razor sharp and hook shaped spines.

The sheep-eating plant is currently one of the talks of the town because of its strange characteristic and 'natural diet. Apparently, the sheep-eating plant ensnares and kills small animals such as sheep and uses the victim's decomposed material as its natural fertilizer, thus, the plant is nicknamed that way.

Once the animal gets entangled into the killer spikes and thorns of the sheep-eating plant, the animal will starve to death and decompose. Puya chilensis, is a relative species of pineapples and a native of Chile, BBC reported.

But kids and families visiting the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden need not worry about their safety when looking at the sheep-eating plant. Cara Smith, a horticulturist from the UK garden explained that the sheep-eating plant is in a safe place. P]arents coming along with small children [to see the flower] don't need to worry about the plant devouring their little ones. It's growing in the arid section of our glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike.'

After 15 years, the Puya chilensis plant in RHS Garden finally bloomed and the success of its nourishment was attributed to the liquid fertilizer that served as the 'diet' of the plant. Cara Smith said, "[F]eeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic."