Laganaphyllis simnovorii
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The Laganaphyllis Simnovorii (commonly known as the Cowplant) is a bizarre bovine vegetation that is large enough to swallow next-door neighbors whole. Friends will be hard-pressed to resist the tantalizing vine-cake of the carnivorous Laganaphyllis Simnovorii. The Cowplant is the career reward for the Natural Science career in The Sims 2.
In The Sims 3, the cowplant appears as buyable non-living statue. It can also be seen on the gardening channel eating a woman.
Toddler(s) and children cannot interact with the Cowplant aside from the children being able to feed and milk it. They cannot take the vine-cake that the Cowplant offers.
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 automatic. Household Sims will ignore the plant unless it kills someone or the player directs them to interact with it.
However it will eat innocent Sims for lunch if not fed every 12 sim hours. The Cowplant sticks a slice of cake out on its tongue, luring the Sim close to the plant; then eats the Sim. The Sim dies immediately, but unusually, the Grim Reaper doesn't appear, just a grave next to the Cowplant. A memory pops up in the memory box about this action.
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.
If Open for Business is installed, the Cowplant can eat a Servo. This is one of the few ways in which a Servo can die.
Milking
After a cowplant has its lunch (a Sim), members of the owner's household can milk the plant, and the "milk' is actually a life-extending drink similar to the Elixir of Life, extending the Sim's lifespan by five days.
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.
Other references
The final class in the Biology major is entitled "Senior Thesis: The Laganaphyllis Simnovorii".
In The Sims 3, the Science career's 5th level is "Carnivorous Plant Tender".
General Culture
The cowplant is reminiscent of Audrey II, the plant in The Little Shop of Horrors, and people on YouTube use the plant for spoofs of the film.