# Man grows pea plant inside lung.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 12, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016 "2010-08-12T03:49:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/1 "2010-08-12T03:49:47Z")
FRom [BBC.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10945050)
_A Massachusetts man who was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung came home with an unusual diagnosis: a pea plant was growing in his lung._
:eek:
---
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/2 "2010-08-12T06:06:15Z")
“I’m not a vegetarian because I like animals; I’m a vegetarian because I hate plants!”
---
### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/3 "2010-08-12T06:15:36Z")
Mom always said, “Don’t inhale your food!”.
---
### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/4 "2010-08-12T07:44:15Z")
My mum always said that if I didn’t clean my ears with a facewasher, potatoes would start growing down there. I always thought she was just trying to scare me.
:eek:
---
### Author:  [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/5 "2010-08-12T08:47:53Z")
He grew a 5 cm (2 in) fir tree!
Links **with pictures**!
[UK Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169861/Shocked-Russian-surgeons-open-man-thought-tumour--FIR-TREE-inside-lung.html)
[Mosnews.com](http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/04/13/firtree/)
:eek::eek::eek:
---
### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/6 "2010-08-12T11:10:10Z")
Somewhere in the dusty annals of my mind, I recall a story of a toddler that had a chronic sinus issue. Eventually, after many doctors appointments and meds and a problem that wasn’t getting better, his head was xrayed and it was discovered the tot had jammed a bean or pea pod up his nose and it had sprouted. I forget how big it got in that yucky enviroment.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/7 "2010-08-12T12:34:49Z")
In Russia, plants eat YOU!
---
### Author:  [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/8 "2010-08-12T13:23:56Z")
I’m glad the doctors got to the root of the problem.
_Awww, c’mon you knew this thread would start to degenerate in that direction sooner or later._
---
### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/9 "2010-08-12T13:35:41Z")
He’s pioneering a new branch of pulmonology.
---
### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/10 "2010-08-12T13:37:40Z")
> [@Ale](#):
>
> I’m glad the doctors got to the root of the problem.\*
I’ve always thought that that Russian was a seedy character.
---
### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/11 "2010-08-12T13:38:54Z")
> [@Ale](#):
>
> _Awww, c’mon you knew this thread would start to degenerate in that direction sooner or later._
There’s a kernel of truth in this observation, but hopefully we can stem the influx of pulmonary puns.
---
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/12 "2010-08-12T13:55:51Z")
I recall a story about a girl who had lung problems for years; it finally turned out that as a toddler she’d managed to inhale a sprig of a Christmas tree and it had been slowly growing ever since.
---
### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/13 "2010-08-12T14:03:10Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#):
>
> He grew a 5 cm (2 in) fir tree!
>
> Links **with pictures**!
>
> [UK Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169861/Shocked-Russian-surgeons-open-man-thought-tumour--FIR-TREE-inside-lung.html)
>
> [Mosnews.com](http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/04/13/firtree/)
>
> :eek::eek::eek:
There was a thread about this one here. I thought it was debunked. Fir one thing, it look more like a branch than a seedling and for another there was no way it would be that green without sunlight. Also, it was posted in the Daily Mail.
[sub]My pun was actually a typo that I opted not to correct.[/sub]
---
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/14 "2010-08-12T14:04:00Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> I recall a story about a girl who had lung problems for years; it finally turned out that as a toddler she’d managed to inhale a sprig of a Christmas tree and it had been slowly growing ever since.
Don’t know about a girl, but the one I heard was about a [61-year-old woman](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8785458?dopt=Abstract).
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/15 "2010-08-12T14:18:02Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#):
>
> He grew a 5 cm (2 in) fir tree!
>
> Links **with pictures**!
>
> [UK Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169861/Shocked-Russian-surgeons-open-man-thought-tumour--FIR-TREE-inside-lung.html)
>
> [Mosnews.com](http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/04/13/firtree/)
>
> :eek::eek::eek:
I’m skeptical. How can a tree be green having grown without light? Or having grown at all with photosynthesis?
[Someone else](http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/14/fir-tree-lung.html) is skeptical.
---
### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/16 "2010-08-12T14:23:49Z")
Anyone who believes these stories is a sap.
---
### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/17 "2010-08-12T18:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat]
I’m skeptical. How can a tree be green having grown without light? Or having grown at all with photosynthesis?
[/QUOTE]
It seemed to work OK in _WALL·E_
---
### Author:  [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/18 "2010-08-12T18:52:28Z")
Puts a whole new twist on “Gotta pee.”
---
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/19 "2010-08-12T19:11:24Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> I’m skeptical. How can a tree be green having grown without light? Or having grown at all with photosynthesis?
>
> [Someone else](http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/14/fir-tree-lung.html) is skeptical.
By absorbing nutrients from the body it’s embedded in I assume. Something that’s full of a lot more high energy organics than you’ll find in the soil. And as pointed out, this isn’t the only story about something like this happening. In fact, to quote the very story you linked to:
> [@](#):
>
> “Finally, it looks pretty healthy, which I wouldn’t expect. Most plants that grow in the dark lack chlorophyll, and are very yellow and unhappy looking.”
Which does imply that it IS possible for plants to grow in the dark, if poorly.
---
### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016/20 "2010-08-12T20:04:09Z")
It was discovered when the doctors noticed him coughing up phloem.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-grows-pea-plant-inside-lung/550016.md?page=2)