Are man-eating plants possible?

So, a largish bamboo area with a strong topical anesthetic agent. You brush up against it, gets into your skin baybe facilitated by some thorns, jacks your voluntary nervous system, down you go kept perpetually immobile (and hopefully unaware!) as the plant continues to drip its toxin into/onto you, bamboo grows through you, spreading rootlets into you as it goes. The evolution of such a thing is not that far-fetched. Plants are good at coming up with chemicals that affect vertibrates to the point of immobilizing them if ingested.

Does that count or is the OP more into the violent man-eating flowers battled by Tarzan?

That part is very much like some anti-corn propaganda I read once.

But I wonder if it’s better to kill the victim, or keep it alive but immobile for a time, so the plant can harvest additional wastes.

Something like a very large pitcher plant might be feasible, but the bigger the pitcher and target prey, the harder it is to set it all up for the prey to just trip and fall in. A man-sized pitcher would only be useful if the lip was at ground level.

In any case, it’s probably a more effective strategy to make lots of smaller pitchers and just trap smaller animals - insects are abundant, and dumb enough to fall for sugar or scent traps with great consistency - larger animals tend to exhibit avoidance behaviours - and may also have the physical strength to cause damage to the plant.

How the wha? So the farmer gets like 1,000 foreigners to tend the young maize crop by hand and they end up feeding the corn for a crazy high yield? Or do the corn kernels germinate in the gut?

The hydraulics don’t need to be the killing force, just the trigger, for instance gravity could be the killing force.

Aren’t fungi basically really slowly eating us? Or are they not plants?

Fungi are a separate kingdom from plants, animals, protists and bacteria.

They’re not plants, and it’s fairly rare for people to actually die from a fungal infection, so I don’t think they would qualify as predatory anyway.

I’ve got it! Falling coconuts!

When I was a little kid I was terrified of giant sequoia or redwood trees that you would walk or drive through. I thought they could spontaneously heal themselves and trap people inside.

I would so drive down to the Redwoods to see that - sounds way better than the ‘Oregon Vortex’.

Spectator sport!

Don’t get too close to this specimen if you’re wearing a woolly jumper: Sheep eating plant blooms in UK.

Money quote was, "Cara Smith, a horticulturist at the Garden Wisley, states, “I’m really pleased that we’ve finally coaxed our Puya chilensis into flower. We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic. It’s growing … well out of reach of both children and sheep.”

What came to mind was along the lines of:
First they came for our sheep … children … ???

Well, I will speak out after I clean up my coffee ---- Snerk - splled some coffee this morning - thanks.

I’m aware of the spiked plant, however I am talking about giant plants that wrap their leaves or vines around prey (in a manner alike to that of the c. drosera).

Anyone?