Hive Vine

The following entry is excerpted from the pages of Dr. Manfred Klinnsman’s Fieldbook of Merikan Flora and Fauna:
I have encountered these carnivorous plants near wetlands and bogs of the Larada frontier. By common account they appear as rhizomatic clusters of invasive weed growth but in actual fact the individual plants are but the limb-like extensions of a singular macro-organism. Most interesting is the demonstrable intelligence of the vine, which displays itself in various aggressive and reactive habits of growth and competition for resources. Incredibly, the plant is capable of limited locomotion and will move and even sacrifice its limbs in defence of its central stalks.
These central stalks constitute the active “brain” of the hive mind, which controls its various limbs through bio-electric signals in a manner akin to that found in the animal nervous system. Alarmingly, the Hive Vine demonstrates an incredible awareness of its surroundings and can even reshape its limbs to imitate the forms and shapes it encounters, including the human form.
The plant seizes its prey by lying in wait for a victim to pass through its vines, at which point it animates its limbs to tangle, suffocate, and crush whatever it can grab onto. In addition to this, the vines are also known to animate their limbs to form striking weapons for bashing and slashing at prey. The only permanent way to kill the Hive Vine is to locate and destroy the stem of its central stalk: the heart of the Hive Vine.
In extreme cases (for which I can only rely on the reports of others) these plants have been known to grow to incredible size and pose threat to humans. These cases allegedly involve entire lakes and swamps that have been overwhelmed by the growth of the Hive Vine. I find it hard to believe that these reports are true, but I record them here in the interest of future inquiry.