Laganaphyllis simnovorii

The Laganaphyllis Simnovorii (commonly known as the Cowplant or Cow Plant) is a bizarre bovine vegetation that is large enough to swallow a Sim whole. The Cowplant is the career reward for the Natural Science career in The Sims 2.

Although not the Laganaphyllis Simnovorii in The Sims 2, a similar plant appeared in The Sims Bustin' Out for console. Simply called the "mutant plant", it may be a relative or precursor of the Cowplant.

In The Sims 3, the Cowplant appears as a buyable, non-living statue. The Cowplant was released in the Sims 3 Store on December 22, 2011 in the Killer Classics Set as premium content.

The Cowplant made a return in The Sims Social on Halloween 2011, where it's sold for 500 Social Points.

Toddlers and children cannot interact with the Cowplant aside from the children being able to play with it and milk it. They cannot take the vine-cake that the Cowplant offers.

It has been confirmed that the Cowplant will return in The Sims 4.

The Sims 2
This bizarre bovine vegetation is large enough to swallow your next-door neighbor whole. In fact, it WILL eat your neighbors. Your friends will be hard-pressed to resist the tantalizing vine-cake of the carniverous [sic] Laganaphyllis Simnovorii. After it has consumed some prey, milk it for sweet, rejuvenating nectar of life. A swig of this liquid refreshment will add precious days to a Sim's life and wash away any regret they may have over their visitor's fate.

Feeding
It can be fed by clicking on it and selecting "Feed". When this is done, the Sim will take out a Leg 'O' Lamb (this costs §35) and throw it to the plant; sometimes playing with it or teasing it first. This action is not autonomous. Household Sims will ignore the plant unless it kills someone or the player directs them to interact with it.

Not being fed does not appear to have any negative effects on the Cowplant. However, it will attempt to capture and eat innocent Sims if not fed every 12 Sim hours. The Cowplant will stick out its tongue, which contains a slice of cake, luring an unwary Sim close to the plant. It then devours the Sim, who dies immediately. Unusually, the Grim Reaper does not appear; the Cowplant simply spits out the grave.

This is a quick and easy way to kill off unwanted Sims. Controllable Sims can be ordered to "Grab Cake", and will die if not stopped. However, the Cowplant will not eat Sims who stink due to low hygiene, even if they were told to take the cake. Ungreeted walkbys will ignore the plant, as will most service NPCs who are on the job. However, service NPCs such as nannies who have idle time during their work day may be drawn to the Cowplant during that idle time. Since a locked gate may not stop an NPC such as a nanny, it may be a good idea to feed the Cowplant before they arrive.

Milking
After a Cowplant has its lunch (a Sim), members of the owner's household can milk the plant. The "milk" is actually a life-extending drink similar to the Elixir of Life, extending the Sim's lifespan by five days. Unlike the Elixir of Life, children can drink from it.

Some Sims have a want to "drink" a certain Sim that they are unhappy with. This refers to that Sim drinking the life essence of the offending Sim using the Cowplant. Drinking a Sim gives the drinker a special memory.

A Sim can still be resurrected after they have been drunk.

The Sims 3
In The Sims 3 the Laganaphyllis Simnovorii can be bought as a premium content item as part of the Killer Classics set from The Sims 3 Store for 600 SimPoints. In-game, the plant costs 475 simoleons. The plant will display its cake when it hasn't been fed for 3 days, and Sims will be instantly drawn to it. Unlike The Sims 2: University, the Cowplant will die if it is not fed for 7 days.

When feeding the plant, Sims give it a swordfish, which, unlike the Leg O' Lamb in The Sims 2: University, doesn't cost anything. Once eaten, a Sim will die, although the plant will often spit the Sim back out if they have bad hygiene, or has the Good, Lucky, Unlucky or Daredevil traits. The Cowplant will not eat babies, toddlers, or children. If the Sim does die, they will become a purple starvation ghost and the Grim Reaper will always come, unlike in The Sims 2. After it has eaten a Sim, other Sims can choose to praise or scold it, and can milk it, which will reset them to day one of their current life stage and give them the "Divine Meal" moodlet with +75 mood for 7 days. With Showtime, Sims can choose to throw a mini Cowplant at the stage for §475.

Other references
The final class in the Biology major in The Sims 2: University is entitled "Senior Thesis: The Laganaphyllis Simnovorii".

In The Sims 3, the Science career's 5th level is "Carnivorous Plant Tender". There is also a little stone statue of a Cowplant in the Goth Manor.

If The Sims 2: Bon Voyage is installed, one of the wall hangings is an ancient tablet with a picture of a Cowplant being fed by ancient people. The description tells about how the Cowplant was treated in the old times.

Trivia

 * The Cowplant is reminiscent of Audrey II, the plant in the 1986 comedy horror film Little Shop of Horrors, starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin. People on YouTube use the plant for spoofs of the film.
 * In terms of color, the Cowplant also resembles the Tomeato (A crossbreed of the tomato plant and a cow, which grew into a square shaped fruit) from The Dilbert Animated series. However, the Tomeato was designed as a harvestable crop which was easy to stack due to its rectangular shape, while the Laganaphyllis Simnovorii is a carnivorous plant.
 * The Cowplant's scientific name (Laganaphyllis Simnovorii) is incorrectly capitalized; rules of binomial nomenclature state that only the first name should be capitalized, not the second. Thus, the correct name for the plant would be Laganaphyllis simnovorii.
 * The genus name is derived from the words lagana (Latin for cake) and phyllis (Greek for foliage), while the species name means 'Sim eater'.
 * In The Sims 3, sometimes the Grim Reaper will milk the Cowplant.
 * In The Sims 3, the players can watch a Cowplant eating a florist in Got Garden? channel on TV.

Gallery

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