History Main / ThatPoorPlant

* In ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} Annual'' #1, Madame Masque attempts to drug Kate. Kate takes a fake sip of the wine and then dumps it in a pot plant. The result is this trope.

* In the ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' story ''QRN on Bretzelburg'', the king of Bretzelburg, at Spirou's urging, gets rid of the drug his treacherous minister used to keep him docile. He briefly wonders if he should be following Spirou's advice before noticing the plant shrivelling and concludes Spirou is probably right.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''[[Recap/TintinFlight714 Flight 714]]'', when Captain Haddock is given a glass of health tonic by an eccentric millionaire, he dumps it onto a Ficus. The plant immediately starts dropping its leaves.

* In one episode of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Xellos made a vegetable stew so noxious, the ingredients were screaming in pain... Taking part in a cooking competition though, he thought the whole idea was to [[LethalChef kill the competition.]]

Incidentally, none of these tests would work so well in real life. If you're paying attention at all, you may have noticed that [[ArtisticLicenseBiology humans and plants are very different living things]]. Most plants that would be planted near characters are the ones that are the ''most'' resistant to disease and dangerous substances. Houseplants in particular are often marketed as air purifiers, meaning that they can resist the kinds of things that would easily make an animal sick. And we haven't even touched how long it could take for the substance in question to be absorbed into the soil, and then absorbed from the soil into the plant, and ''then'' for the substance to actually start killing the plant. Like HollywoodAcid and PoisonIsCorrosive, this trope provides a visible (if unrealistic) clue that a substance is dangerous.

A SisterTrope to IllFatedFlowerbed. Contrast SoulfulPlantStory, where bad things happening to plants are taken very seriously, and WeedingOutImperfections, where bad guys use flowers, weeds, and other plants as metaphors for "desirable" and "undesirable" people.

A SisterTrope to IllFatedFlowerbed. Contrast SoulfulPlantStory, where bad things happening to plants are taken very seriously.

* In the ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' two-part episode, "The Other Brothers Elric", Fletcher and Russell save Xenotime from the impending flood of red water by having all the trees in the surrounding area soak it up like a giant tree drain. All the trees are (apparently) then destroyed by the brothers.

* {{Iron|y}}ically, some sensitive houseplants can actually be badly damaged by minerals such as chlorine and chloramine that are added as treatment to tap water to make it ''safer'' for humans. (Such minerals are intended to eliminate disease-bearing bacteria, that is, for human diseases that likely wouldn't bother plants at all.) Houseplant enthusiasts generally recommend using distilled or filtered water on their plants for this reason, while most tap water remains healthy enough for people to drink.

* {{Iron|y}}ically, some sensitive houseplants can actually be badly damaged by minerals such as chlorine and chloramine that are added as treatment to tap water to make it ''safer'' for humans. (Such minerals are intended to eliminate disease-bearing bacteria, that is, for human diseases that likely wouldn't bother plants at all.) Houseplant enthusiasts generally recommend using distilled or filtered water on their plants for this reason.

* Inverted with ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' and the plant that [[ILoveNuclearPower grows when abused with radioactive water]].

Is your friend a LethalChef, but you don't want to hurt their feelings? Do you just want to make sure their cooking is safe to eat? When they're not looking, dump the -er- food into the dracaena's pot. The plant will probably curl its leaves and die at once from the toxic substance meant to be comestible. Good thing ''you'' didn't eat it. [[DiscreetDrinkDisposal It works with drinks, too.]]

Incidentally, none of these tests would work so well in real life. If you're paying attention at all, you may have noticed that [[ArtisticLicenseBiology humans and plants are very different living things]]. It should be noted that most of the plants you see out your window today are the ones that are the ''most'' resistant to disease and dangerous substances. Houseplants are often specifically marketed as air purifiers, meaning that they are also very resilient to the kinds of things that would easily make an animal sick. And we haven't even touched how long it could take for the substance in question to be absorbed into the soil, and then absorbed from the soil into the plant, and ''then'' for the substance to actually start killing the plant.

Vegetation is also apparently an excellent barometer for magical evilness. Has your character gained incredible nature-based powers and is FriendToAllLivingThings? [[FertileFeet Flowers and plants will sprout wherever she walks]]. Meanwhile, the EnemyToAllLivingThings is likely to be [[WalkingWasteland surrounded by dead trees and blackened grass]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' episode "Mind Trap" has a plant wilt after Dudley disposes of one of Dudley's mackerel cookies into it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' a doctor tested a new growth formula on a wilting rose. It began thriving, and he declared the experiment a success. Then his assistant tried to steal the formula, got doused with it, and died. The next day, the flower mutated, {{foreshadowing}} the assistant's imminent resurrection as Dr. Viper.
* Done for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' by Beast Boy [[PottyEmergency when the bathroom was occupied.]]

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* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''Flight 714'', when Captain Haddock is given a glass of health tonic by an eccentric millionaire, he dumps it onto a Ficus. The plant immediately starts dropping its leaves.
* ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'': Papa Smurf once had an experiment with a daisy gone awry, turning it into a [[ManEatingPlant Smurf-eating plant]].

* ''Fanfic/AwfulLotOfCoffeeInEquestria'' has an unusual example of this trope. Princess Luna once had a plastic desk cactus. That she managed to kill. Somehow.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1801126/9/MisMatchmaker MsMatchmaker]]'' Harry spits a mouthful of Dobby's pea soup into a potted plant. [[LethalChef It instantly wilts]].

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* The tiny little Death Omen pine tree from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. It eventually bursts into flames, causing Sally to seriously question whether Jack's great Christmas takeover plan is such a good idea.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Creator/AbbottAndCostello's movie ''Film/TheNaughtyNineties'' has a hilarious scene where the [[BigBad Big Bad]] and Costello's character Sebastian are put alone together in a private room in a theater, where she proceeds to poison his drink. They then do a PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo back and forth until ''he'' gets confused and opts to toss the drink in the fern next to him. Sebastian watches the fern die very slowly, and then wipes his glass ''very'' thoroughly on his tux.
* ''Film/JustHeroes'': During the climatic shootout, a mook gets pumped with bullets and just happens to fall into a tall potted plant behind him, which conveniently snaps into half for some reason.

* In "Literature/RappaccinisDaughter", the title character is so poisonous that ordinary plants wilt when she touches them.
* Inverted in ''Literature/DragonBones'': One of the fields around castle Hurog is spoiled by salt, and almost nothing grows there. That was an accident, or possibly GaiasRevenge. However, [[spoiler: when they have to figure out what to do with the dragon bones, which they know are a magical artifact that would grant more power than would be healthy to a human sorcerer, if ingested, they grind them into powder and use that on the field. After that, the plants there grow very well.]]
* Crowley and his plants in ''Literature/GoodOmens''. They're the healthiest houseplants in London, [[spoiler:and the most terrified. He occasionally kills the one who looks weakest, to show the others what happens if they don't try hard enough.]]

* In one of the ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Literature/YoungJediKnights'' novels Tenel Ka accidentally orders a GargleBlaster and dumps it in a potted plant, then apologizes when [[PlantAliens it gets annoyed]].
* In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', one of the History Monks teaches novices to be wisely-cautious about the procrastinators by setting an apple on a table and accelerating time around it. Within seconds, it's rotted away and left behind a circle of frail, stunted tree seedlings that sprout from the resulting lump of mold.

* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' - there's an episode in which Mr. Mxyzptlk causes a burp in time, forcing Clark to relive a day again and again during which everyone becomes more depressed and pessimistic. Each time it happens the Christmas tree in the Daily Planet office dwindles until it's just a stalk with a bauble on it.
* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E2OneForTheAngels One For The Angels]]", Mr. Death proves his identity by touching a plant and causing it to wilt and die.

* On ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', in "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" the [[CreepyChild undead girl]] caused plants around her to die.

* Intentionally used on ''Series/HogansHeroes''. Colonel Hogan wants to keep convincing Klink that a killer is after him, so he laces the kommandant's tea with what's probably a powerful herbicide and serves it to him--then, at the last moment, notes that the tea might be poisonous and pours it into Klink's office plant instead. The plant dies dramatically and Klink believes Hogan's story.
* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' had a poisonous drink poured into a plant in "As Darkness Falls". As is usual, the plant instantly wilted.
* {{Brit|Com}}ish DomCom ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave'' had its [[GrumpyOldMan eternally unlucky protagonist]] poison an entire garden when [[ItMakesSenseInContext he inadvertently used cocaine instead of fertiliser]].
* In the ''Series/{{Bottom}}'' live show, Richie dumps a cup of tea that has been laced with goat poison onto a nearby plant. The plant gives off smoke and wilts instantly.
* The trope is invoked in an episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': At a gathering to carpool to Drake's concert, Josh hands out homemade lime drinks to the guests. One of the guests, Josh's boss Helen, immediately proclaims that the drink "tastes like mucus" and briskly dumps it into a houseplant. She then loudly predicts that the plant "will be dead by nightfall".

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': The attitude behind the assumption that plants are fair game for mistreatment is discussed by Crichton (a human) and Zhaan (a humanoid plant.)
--> '''Zhaan:''' I cannot condone what his people did, but for all this unparalleled flora to flourish, it may not be entirely unreasonable to--\\
'''John:''' To murder sentient beings in order to save a few stinking plants?\\
'''Zhaan:''' How animal-centric of you, John.\\
'''John:''' Sorry, Zhaan. I forgot. You're a--\\
'''Zhaan:''' I am a "stinking plant".
* ''Series/Charmed1998'': When Phoebe is pregnant with Cole's baby [[EvilChancellor The Seer]] claims that she's giving Phoebe a tonic to boost her strength when it's actually a potion that will corrupt Phoebe and turn her to evil. Phoebe gets suspicious and dumps the tonic in a nearby plant. The next time The Seer arrives with a vial of the "tonic" Phoebe notices that the plant is now very dead and starts demanding the truth.

* Jason Love's cartoons: "[[http://www.jasonlove.com/cartoons/00453-daily-cartoons-coffee-grounds.gif You're putting coffee grounds in the plants again?]]"

* In ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' a doctor tested a new growth formula on a wilting rose. It began thriving, and he declared the experiment a success. Then his assistant tried to steal the formula, got doused with it, and died. The next day, the flower mutated, {{foreshadowing}} the assistant's imminent resurrection as Dr. Viper.

* When the Sumerian Century Flower blooms in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', its smell sends the crowd around it fleeing, and kills all the nearby plants; except one, which [[{{Jerkass}} Homer runs back to stomp]].
* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' has fallen into this, using non-talking vegetables for various things, such as a non-speaking pumpkin with a scrawled on face to test a fish-slapper.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' short "Flowers and Trees" is ''made'' of this. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuIb7BIFqk Everybody now: "Awwww..."]].
* In the pilot for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', we only see the full effects of the illegal nerve gas on a plant. Human and cattle subjects are also displayed, but what happens is only implied to be horrible through [[GoryDiscretionShot villain reaction shots]].

* Done for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' by Beast Boy [[PottyEmergency when the bathroom was occupied.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'': MAD assassins try to bump off Gadget by poisoning the hors d'oeuvres at a party he's attending. Brain gets rid of them by dumping them in a nearby potted plant, which promptly wilts and dies.

* One S2 episode of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' had Bloom experimenting with her recently discovered healing powers, using some plants as test subjects. However, since the book she had gotten from the library had been planted there by an evil spy, it caused the spells she used to cause one of the plants to burst into fire, and another to turn into a monster. This trope is also inverted when in S4 [[spoiler: Ogron, the leader of the Wizards of the Black Circle steals the gift of life which could be used to bring a dead person back to life and uses it on a dead flower to prevent the Winx from using it to revive Nabu, who had just sacrificed himself to save the Earth fairies from the Dark Abyss that the Wizards of the Black Circle had created.]]

* Subverted and inverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''. Bushroot is out to make himself [[AesopAmnesia another plant friend]]. He comes up with a mutating formula that seems to work. Then it gets on Gosalyn, mutating her into [[BlobMonster a slime creature]]. While looking for a cure, Darkwing tested the formula on a plant and learned that the mutation had four stages: intelligence, ravenous appetite, insanity... and finally, [[ImMelting liquification]]. Fortunately, Darkwing announces that he did find a cure... although how he figured out that cure from testing on plants is never explained. [[spoiler:The cure is a hot bath with ''lots'' of soap.]]
* In the beginning of the WesternAnimation/BettyBoop cartoon "WesternAnimation/MinnieTheMoocher", [[EverythingTalks a flower in a vase]] politely tries to convince Betty to eat her parent's cooking. When she doesn't, the flower takes a bite of it himself and immediately loses his petals and collapses.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheComicStrip Tiger Sharks]]'', a plant wilts after making contact with some toxic waste (that has the appearance of solid gold and induces RapidAging in anyone touching it).
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' CrossesTheLineTwice when Meg dumps a glass of drugged punch in a plotted plant. The plant droops as if unconscious, then another potted plant hops over to hump it while it's out.

Need to show how the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum Du Jour]] affects living things, but the character isn't [[KickTheDog evil enough]] to [[PlayingWithSyringes test it on an animal]]? Well, plants are fair game. Therefore, plants tend to get mistreated a lot in fiction.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'' - Shrek sneezes the potion that'll make him look attractive onto a mushroom, and as the group walks away it turns into a pretty rose. Those fortunate fungi.

--> '''Zhaan''': I cannot condone what his people did, but for all this unparalleled flora to flourish, it may not be entirely unreasonable to-
-->'''John''': To murder sentient beings in order to save a few stinking plants?
-->'''Zhaan''': How animal-centric of you, John.
-->'''John''': Sorry, Zhaan. I forgot. You're a-
-->'''Zhaan''': I am a "stinking plant".

* [=GLaDOS=] makes reference to this in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.

* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' – MAD assassins try to bump off Gadget by poisoning the hors d'oeuvres at a party he’s attending. Brain gets rid of them by dumping them in a nearby potted plant, which promptly wilts and dies.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Franchise/AceAttorney: It's implied that Ema did this to Phoenix Wright's plant. Though seeing as it is still around in the 4th game, and is implied to be the same plant, it survives.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' a doctor tested a new growth formula on a wilting rose. It began thriving, and he declared the experiment a success. Then his assistant tried to steal the formula, got doused with it, and died. The next day, the flower mutated, {{foreshadowing}} the assistant's immanent ressurection as Dr. Viper.

** Earlier, Yzma got the idea to poison Kuzco when she, in full EvilPlan gloat-mode, accidentally knocked a vial of poison onto a plant.

* Creator/AbbottAndCostello's movie ''The Naughty Nineties'' has a hilarious scene where the [[BigBad Big Bad]] and Costello's character Sebastian are put alone together in a private room in a theater, where she proceeds to poison his drink. They then do a PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo back and forth until ''he'' gets confused and opts to toss the drink in the fern next to him. Sebastian watches the fern die very slowly, and then wipes his glass ''very'' thoroughly on his tux.

* Ur-Example: In Hawthorne's "Rappacini's Daughter", the title character is so poisonous that ordinary plants wilt when she touches them.

** Earlier, Yzma got the idea to poison Kuzco when she, in full EvilPlan gloat-mode, accidentally knocked a vial of poison onto a plant, providing us with the current page image.

* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' Rachel makes coffee. Chandler and Joey think it tastes awful, but they politely pour it into the potted plant on the table rather than upset her. Cut to a scene later in the day and Monica has to toss out the now-dead plant.

* Used hilariously in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' - a cactus ends up ''turning into a topiary llama'' after Yzma pours some (what she thought was) poison-laced drink into it, only to find out after it transforms Kuzco that it was actually "extract of llama". Earlier, she got the idea to poison Kuzco when she, in full EvilPlan gloat-mode, accidentally knocked a vial of poison onto a plant, providing us with the current page image.

* In ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', one of the History Monks teaches novices to be wisely-cautious about the procrastinators by setting an apple on a table and accelerating time around it. Within seconds, it's rotted away and left behind a circle of frail, stunted tree seedlings that sprout from the resulting lump of mold.