The Leech Plant

Vinelike, tendriled, leaved
It was vinelike, and tendriled, leaved.
Captive

At end of vine is a split podlike head
A blind, split, podlike head was moving toward me, lifting itself slightly from the ground, moving from side to side.
Captive

Two long curved fangs / thorns inside pod
Inside the pod I could see, fastened in the upper surface, two long, curved, thornlike fangs.
Captive

Thorns are hollow to suck blood
I jerked the two fanglike thorns from my leg. The leech plant strikes like a cobra, and fastens two hollow thorns into its victim. The chemical responses of the bladderlike pods produce a mechanical pumping action, and the blood is sucked into the plant to nourish it.
Outlaw

Makes popping sucking sound as seed pods expand and contract
But the fangs held fast, and I heard the popping, sucking sound of the bladderlike seed pods of a leech plant, as they expanded and contracted like small ugly lungs.
Outlaw

"Bite" is painful, even to grown man
Once I shouted in pain. Two fangs had struck into my calf.
Outlaw

Podlike head lifts slightly from ground, moving from side to side
Once I stopped to rest. I lay, panting on the grass. My eyes were closed. I heard a rustle. I turned my head and opened my eyes. I watched it in terror. It was vinelike, and tendriled, leaved. A blind, split, podlike head was moving toward me, lifting itself slightly from the ground, moving from side to side.
Captive

Strikes suddenly, like a snake
The leech plant is rooted, can strike only within range of its length
The thing suddenly struck at me. It tore through the fabric of the slacks on my right leg. I pulled my leg away, tearing away the cloth. It struck again and again, as though sensing me by smell or heat, but it was rooted, and I was beyond its reach.
Captive

Writhes like a snake, even just after being torn from roots.
Strikes like a cobra, fastening thorns into victim.
I reached down and jerked the plant from the soil at the side of the road. It writhed in my hand like a snake, its pods gasping. I jerked the two fanglike thorns from my leg. The leech plant strikes like a cobra, and fastens two hollow thorns into its victim.
Outlaw

Soil along roads between cities
I reached down and jerked the plant from the soil at the side of the road.
Outlaw

Normally cleared from sides of roads and inhabited areas
With a shudder I hurled the loathsome plant away from the road. Normally such plants are cleared away from the sides of the roads and from inhabited areas. They are primarily dangerous to children and small animals, but a grown man who might lose his footing among them would not be likely to survive.
Outlaw

Grows in patches in open fields
Once I stopped to rest. I lay, panting on the grass. My eyes were closed. I heard a rustle. I turned my head and opened my eyes. I watched it in terror.
...
I heard another rustle, near me. I looked about, wildly, I saw the other plant, and then two others, too. And then another. Sweating, picking my way, , I fled from the area. Then I was into the open grass again.
Captive

Primarily dangerous to children and small animals
Grown man fallen into patch is not likely to survive
Normally such plants are cleared away from the sides of the roads and from inhabited areas. They are primarily dangerous to children and small animals, but a grown man who might lose his footing among them would not be likely to survive.
Outlaw