Is this scientifically/medically possible? My mind is blown, if yes.

But reputable botanists say that was impossible because without LIGHT, the plant could not grow (so it smells like a hoax).

Urban legends are so funny.

I didn’t even think about the light factor.. but my BS detector went off. The more I think about it, the dumber I feel. :P

Sounds bogus to me. I’m surprised that paper even reported it.

A tree needs sunlight to process chlorophyll, and that can’t be done inside someone’s lungs. It’s a steady job at the Daily Mail, but whoever wrote that article apparently wants to be a paperback writer.

5 cm is about 2 in. A seed might be able to germinate with only heat and moisture but if the individual had a working immune system, within hours there would be an infection. Think splinter in your finger. I say hoax.

He may not have cancer, but in my opinion, he has a real case of bullshit.

When I was little, my brother would tease me that if I didn’t shower, a seed would fall on my head and a tree would sprout. Totally crazy. But at least in that scenario, the seed would actually get light.

I hope he never swallowed a watermelon seed.

A big problem here (beyond the light issue brought up by @Mr_M ) is that no one has taken into account the basic anatomy of the lung. Air passes into the alveoli, small sack-like structures taht form clusters. The alveoli are where oxygen and CO2 exchange takes place… there ar MILLIONS of tiny little alveoli where this occurs. The air does not enter large balloon type structures that people seem to think the lungs are.

To illustrate the point visit this link. If you can see that and explain how it’s anatomically and physiologically possible for this to happen… you deserve a Nobel prize… in FAIL.

Not medically possible. He may however have inhaled a small piece and it may have gotten stuck in there which would explain the bleeding and pain due to tissue damage.

I heard this on the radio a few days ago, then found an article with video on the BBC. It did look like a little bit of tree was in this guy’s lung. Whether or not it “grew” there is questionable, but maybe he inhaled it or something.

Weird, just weird. I haven’t had enough coffee to make an informed decision, but I’m going to trust @Dr_C…

I vote for the inhale idea, too.

I’m going with NO, but just for the record, plants do not need sun to grow at first. The seed has a certain amount of energy stored in it as carbohydrate (that’s why seeds and nuts make for good food). This is so that the seedling can grow up through the soil or dense litter to reach the sun. In this case, I think the most that could happen would be a few cm of germination (in one of the larger pipes leading to the alveoli) before it dies and disintegrates. Also, I don’t think fir seed are real small enough to be inhaled that far. I think you’d cough it up.

Having watched the video on the Telegraph news story, it looks to me like the guy inhaled part of a fir tree (it didn’t look like a fir seedling, it looked like part of the tip of a branch) that the lungs then grew protective tissue around (which is what made it look like a tumor).

Seedling in the lung? This didn’t look like a seedling.

I agree with @bpeoples (and pretty much everyone else who has weighed in here)... there’s no discernible root structure.

@bpeoples i haven’t seen the video, but the tissue you describe that formed around the offending agent is called a granuloma which is consistent with inhalation of foreign bodies.

When I was little I used to be afraid that if I swallowed a black watermelon seed, a watermelon plant would grow inside me.

This is wayyy beyond an urban legend. I saw it on CNN. WTF.

You saw a granuloma containing a foreign body on CNN. That’s all. The rest is speculation.

The part where the fir tree actually grew in there from a seed is the questionable – urban myth – part.

@robmandu: I’m not speculating at all about exactly what was in the guy’s lungs, It could have been a carrot for all I know. I was commenting on how seriously the story is being taken. It’s not just an urban legends; it’s on fuckin CNN. A lot of people commented on the fact that whatever newspaper would even report it. News reporting in general must be in a sad state.

“News reporting in general must be in a sad state.”

Indeed, because journalists do indeed erroneously report urban myths as fact all the time. Even on CNN.

Urban myths are so much more interesting. Now I believed that story about the little fir tree. I figured that, in spite of the darkness, the heat and the highly concentrated atmosphere would cause it to grow. Obviously I was wrong. I feel disappointed.

The news is not so reliable all the time, and it’s not just a news as entertainment thing. Once one “credible” source reports something all the others tend to jump on it recirculating based on the assumption that the first paper must have verified their story. This is why for years papers would print warnings about the danger of razorblades in apples. There were warnings about it! Every year! It must be a very serious danger! There hasn’t been even one documented case of razorblades in apples.

But keep an eye on your kids for the usual dangers of course.

There’s also the pressure to be the fastest! The first! It’s breaking news!

It seems that the pressure to be quick is becoming more intense than the pressure to get the news right.

where’s crisw when you need her to tell you if ANY story is a hoax

Aren’t firs conifers?

@Knotmyday FTW

@aprilsimnel – Yes, at some point photosynthesis is required for energy supply. But keep in mind that seeds (like fertilized eggs) store energy that will get used initially.

Overall, not a very credible story, but you never know. The truth is out there!

To be sure, peeps, but this little tree already had green leaves, but was surrounded by blood and lung tissue, which is impossible, so it had gone past germination. Of course this story is all bunk.

Yes, the story most likely is all bunk.