The carnivorous pineapple......

There are carnivorous plants. And then there's Puya Chilensis, a relative of the pineapple.

'Pineapples aren't carnivorous!' I hear you cry. 'That's just a bad dream you've had because you ate cheese before bedtime!'

Image above: Puya Chilensis. They may look like daft spikey trees, but they're actually wondering what you'll taste like....

Well, maybe not carnivorous exactly. The death dealing pineapple is real though: It's evolved spiny, hooked, leaves at its base. These trap animals of up to sheep size - and when they die of starvation and exposure the plant uses the rotting body for fertiliser.

Isn't nature lovely?

British farmers don't need to worry too much about this thing - it's native to South America.

But maybe they should worry a little bit: Botanists were over the moon recently when a Puya Chilensis bloomed in Britain for the first time....