Piranha Plant

Piranha Plant is a Venus fly trap-like enemy, almost always portrayed as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted red globe, bisected by a white lip mouth with razor-sharp teeth. They have shown up many times in the series, typically hide within pipes, and come out whenever something passes close by. Some species can also spit fireballs. Others live entirely outside pipes, being either rooted in the ground or even walking about on rootlike legs. When Mario is standing on a pipe, they have the tendency to stay in the pipe. Piranha Plants originally appeared in Super Mario Bros. They have otherwise changed little since their first appearance, but they have also appeared in various forms and sub-species such as the Poisonous Putrid Piranha, the Frost Piranha, Petey Piranha, and the Pale Piranha.

On the television series based on Super Mario Bros., Piranha Plants made various appearances, usually acting as obstacles for the heroes, much as they do in the games. In the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon, Venus Fire Traps and Ptooie Plants were used in a manner similar to guns.