Editing Triffid (section)

==Fictional history==
===Origins=== 
In [[The Day of the Triffids|the novel]], the origin of the triffid species is explained as being the creation of the [[Soviet Union]] (portrayed as being a mysterious country), although the exact way they came to be present around the world is unknown. The main character, Bill Masen speculates as follows:

{{quote|It is my guess that over the [[Pacific Ocean]] ... cannon-shells from Russian fighters ... blew to pieces a certain twelve-inch cube of plywood ... in which, according to Ferdor, the seeds were packed. [...] Millions of gossamer-strung triffid seeds, free to drift wherever the winds of the world should take them...<ref name="day">Wyndham, ''The Day of the Triffids'', ch. 2.</ref>}}

The [[The Day of the Triffids (film)|1962 film adaptation]] portrays them as extraterrestrial lifeforms transported to Earth by comets, contradicting the novel.

In the [[The Day of the Triffids (1981 TV series)|1981 TV series]], the triffids were the creation of real-life [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[biologist]] [[Trofim Lysenko]]. The seeds were spread across the globe when a plane smuggling them out of Russia was shot down during the Cold War.

In the [[The Day of the Triffids (2009 TV series)|2009 two-part TV series]], the triffids are a naturally occurring species from [[Zaire]], discovered by the West and selectively bred as an alternative to fossil fuels, to avert [[global warming]].

===Name===
''Triffid'' refers to the plant's three "legs".<ref name="Wyndham triffid">John Wyndham, ''The Day Of The Triffids'', chapter 2</ref> In the novel a dozen names beginning with ''tri-'', with a [[vowel length|long ''i'' vowel]],  had been bandied about before the term standardized on "triffid", with a short ''i''.<ref name="Wyndham triffid"/>

===Initial appearance and cultivation===
In the novel, it is stated that the first triffids appeared in equatorial regions. Though they develop faster in tropical zones, triffids soon established themselves worldwide, outside the [[Polar region|polar]] and [[desert]] regions. When it was discovered that triffids are venomous, they were almost exterminated, until they were identified as the source of valuable oil. Farms were then built to cultivate them.

Upon the discovery that [[Docking (animal)|docking]] their stingers renders them harmless, docked triffids became fashionable in public and private gardens. These triffids are safe provided they are pruned annually, as they take two years to fully regrow their stingers. Farmed triffids are not docked because undocked triffids produce higher quality oil.