Thursday, December 8, 2016

The Red Weed


Apparently the vegetable kingdom in Mars, instead of having green for a dominant colour, is of a vivid blood-red tint. At any rate, the seeds which the Martians (intentionally or accidentally) brought with them gave rise in all cases to red-coloured growths. Only that known popularly as the red weed, however, gained any footing in competition with terrestrial forms. The red creeper was quite a transitory growth, and few people have seen it growing. For a time, however, the red weed grew with astonishing vigour and luxuriance.

- The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells

Artist Tom Ellis brings us this sample of the insidious Martian vegetation that infested the globe after the invasion of 1898.

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