Interesting........
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_567529.html?menu=news.quirkies
Exploding cactus shock for owner
A plant-lover has been left shocked after a cactus exploded in his house, setting fire to other plants.
Paul Henson, 28, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, says the 10in high cactus burst into flames in his hot conservatory.
When he smelt smoke he was ready to reprimand one of his stepchildren for playing with matches.
Then he saw the plant and five others surrounded by thick smoke.
Charity worker Mr Henson, said: "It's melted my conservatory roof, the flames were about 18in high.
"I was a little bit shocked and then a little bit bemused that I have exploding house plants.
"I have over 500 house plants. Now all the cacti are banished to a cold frame."
Mr Henson put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and also called the fire service.
Mr Henson said he believed a cactus could explode in the wild as a way of spreading its seeds.
But a spokeswoman for the Royal Horticultural Society said: "We have never heard of any plant spontaneously combusting, especially in the case of a cactus which lives in a desert.
"We can't say it's impossible but we have certainly never heard of it happening, and there's no scientific evidence to say it could."
She added that the Dictamnus albus is a shrub which can set fire to itself.
It secretes an aromatic oil on a hot day which can be set alight by natural heat.
Story filed: 19:01 Monday 15th April 2002
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_567529.html?menu=news.quirkies
Exploding cactus shock for owner
A plant-lover has been left shocked after a cactus exploded in his house, setting fire to other plants.
Paul Henson, 28, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, says the 10in high cactus burst into flames in his hot conservatory.
When he smelt smoke he was ready to reprimand one of his stepchildren for playing with matches.
Then he saw the plant and five others surrounded by thick smoke.
Charity worker Mr Henson, said: "It's melted my conservatory roof, the flames were about 18in high.
"I was a little bit shocked and then a little bit bemused that I have exploding house plants.
"I have over 500 house plants. Now all the cacti are banished to a cold frame."
Mr Henson put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and also called the fire service.
Mr Henson said he believed a cactus could explode in the wild as a way of spreading its seeds.
But a spokeswoman for the Royal Horticultural Society said: "We have never heard of any plant spontaneously combusting, especially in the case of a cactus which lives in a desert.
"We can't say it's impossible but we have certainly never heard of it happening, and there's no scientific evidence to say it could."
She added that the Dictamnus albus is a shrub which can set fire to itself.
It secretes an aromatic oil on a hot day which can be set alight by natural heat.
Story filed: 19:01 Monday 15th April 2002