Assassin vine

An assassin vine was a type of carnivorous plant found in varieties both above and below the surface.

Description
A single specimen usually consisted of a 20-foot-long (6 meters) main branch as thick as a human's forearm. Smaller vines up to 5 feet (150 centimeters) extended from the main branch and bore clusters of grape-like berries. The bark was stringy. The leaves of an assassin vine were distinct in their asymmetric five-pointed shapes, which resembled a hand.

The plants were tougher than usual and were resistant to burning or freezing. Electricity did not harm them at all.

Assassin vines could move along the ground but very slowly.

Variants
A related plant was also found in the Underdark. These varieties had thinner stems and gray leaves with brown, silver, or white veins. Since they could not make energy from the sun, they required a source of thermal energy and would usually generate enough offal to also support colonies of subterranean fungi in a symbiotic relationship.

Ecology
Assassin vines would absorb nutrients from decaying matter into their roots. Being carnivorous plants, they would lie in wait until they sensed motion and would snap out and entangle prey, strangling it to death.

The vines produced fruit in late summer.

Habitats
The Ardeep Forest east of Waterdeep contained a population of assassin vines. They were also present in large numbers in the Flooded Forest between the Vast and the Moonsea. They also potentially grew in the Vast Swamp and in the counterpart Shadow Swamp in the Plane of Shadow.

Myconids in the Lowerdark city of Fluvenilstra kept a defense of subterranean assassin vines, in addition to other plant creatures.

Uses
The fruit of an assassin vine was tough and bitter, but it could be turned into a strong wine.