Plant Tropes

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An index gathering plant-related tropes.

A sub-index of Tropes of Nature. Do not add flower-only, tree-only, or fruit and vegetable-only tropes here: instead, put them in their respective sub-index.

Compare and contrast Animal Tropes.

Tropes:

• Alien Kudzu: A plant-like or otherwise sessile alien organism that goes invasive and quickly overwhelms Earthling environments.
• Born from Plants: When beings come out of plants.
• Botanical Abomination: An Eldritch Abomination with plant-like characteristics.
• Bullet Seed: Seeds shot in rapid succession as a form of attack.
• Cactus Cushion: People getting injured on a cactus' spines.
• Caring Gardener: Because somebody has to care for all these plants.
• Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables
• Floral Theme Naming: People named after flowers and flower parts.
• Four-Leaf Clover: Clovers with four leaves bring good luck.
• From My Own Personal Garden: One character demonstrate their wealth to another by not only presenting rich meals, but showing they own the source of the ingredients as well.
• Fungi Are Plants: Fungi being confused with or treated as being plants.
• Garden Garment: Dresses made of living plants.
• Green Thumb: The ability to control plant life.
• The Hedge of Thorns: Thorn bushes can prove an impassable obstacle.
• Horrible at Horticulture: A character's gardening skills are so terrible that they're usually killing plants more than raising them.
• Innocent Plant Children: Plant-themed children that act innocently.
• Know Your Vines: 'Cause you don't wanna grab the wrong one.
• Leaf Boat: Leaves used as boats.
• Lily-Pad Platform: Lily pads sturdy enough for people to stand on.
• Man-Eating Plant: Aggressive, mobile, gigantic, and even human-eating carnivorous plants.
• Misplaced Vegetation: Specific species of plants put in locations or environments where they have no place being.
  • All Deserts Have Cacti: Cacti appear in any and all deserts in fiction, even though real cacti only live in North America (and are invasive in Australia).
• Naturally Huskless Coconuts: Coconuts grow on a palm tree without a husk.
• Nature Equals Plants: The word nature used to mean plants/forests rather than a broader definition of the term.
• Neglected Garden: A garden that hasn't been cared for in a long time, showing a character's depressed emotional state.
• Planimal: Chimeric plant-animal creatures.
• Plant Aliens: When aliens are intelligent plants.
• Plant Hair: Hair made up of leaves, vines, flowers, petals and such plant parts.
• Plant Mooks: The Big Bad grows a crop of plant-based Mooks to send after the heroes.
• Plant Person: Intelligent plant creatures.
  • Cactus Person: A cactus-based Plant Person.
• Sentient Flytrap: Venus flytraps are depicted as more sentient and animal-like compared to other plants.
• Soulful Plant Story: A deeply emotional story about a plant.
• Talking to Plants: Gardners talk to their plants out of habit or to make them grow better.
• That Poor Plant: A nasty substance is poured into a plant pot, killing its occupant.
• Transflormation: People are transformed into plants.
• Under the Mistletoe: When two people meet under a spring of mistletoe hung from the ceiling, they have to kiss.
• Vine Swing: Swinging from tree to tree thanks to conveniently sturdy and well-placed vines.
• Vine Tentacles: Vines and tendrils are prehensile like tentacles.