Red Weed - Accident or deliberate

[Commandingtripod]

Was the Red weed bought to Earth as an accident?

Or did the Martians bring it here deliberately?

I myself think that the Martians bought it here deliberately to make Earth more like Mars.

[Rocka]

In the League Of Extraordinary Gentleman volume II, the Martians use it as a kind of bio weapon to clog up the Thames and stop Captain Nemo taking pot shots at 'em from his Nautilus. Good eh?
I think there was a bit in Wells' novel where he mentions that of all the seeds the Martians brought to Earth, the REd Weed was the main one to take root...

[EvilNerfherder]

There's no answer to this in the book... the narrator states that he doesn't know if the spread of the weed is deliberate or not.
I've always thought it was an accident, rogue spores getting into the cylinders before launching. I've always figured that the Martians would be savvy enough to wonder if the Weed would have a detrimental effect on our ecology, which it would have done if it hadn't seemingly fallen to the same fate as the Martians themselves. If they wanted our planet so badly as it is, why would they tip the balance like that?
But then you could argue that they did it on purpose. But we would need to know more about the Red Weed's possible long term effects on our planet to be able to figure out why.

[sunnyrabbiera]

well if the Martians were indeed gardening the red weed here, then most likely it probably was more abundant here then on Mars.
we all know now that Mars is not colored red in the true sense, its more copper red/ orange brown.
Perhaps Wells saw this as well and perhaps he thought that if anything was growing up there and if the planet was in exhaustion then he probably thought that the it was dieing up there.
we realy dont know what he had in mind, but then again I think he left things up for debate on purpose so he could encourage others to come up with thier own ideas.
Its kinda lonely being an idealist

[Lensman]

nerfherder said:

I've always figured that the Martians would be savvy enough to wonder if the Weed would have a detrimental effect on our ecology, which it would have done if it hadn't seemingly fallen to the same fate as the Martians themselves. If they wanted our planet so badly as it is, why would they tip the balance like that?

That's a good argument. But to play devil's advocate: Whenever humans colonize a new place they plant useful (crops) and ornamental (flowers, bushes) vegetation from seeds they've brought with them.

Of course, Martians are spoze to be smarter than us, so perhaps they wouldn't.

[Tripod Bait]

As I noted in a different thread: I agree with Nerf. I've always seen the weed as an accident - even when I read the book as a kid. It grows rampant were ever the martians seem to have spent time (i.e. around the house and the surrounding neighborhood), but there's never any mention that they cultivate it, tend it, or use it... it just appears and lingers after they've moved on.

I've always seen it to be analogous to non-native/invasive vermin that were unintentionally transported from port to port by early traders and explorers. Perhaps the humanoids the martians used for food on their trip ate the weed, and seeds were left behind in their feces and sprouted. ... And with no natural means of keeping it in check it quickly covered the surrounding country side. According to the narrator's account while trapped in the house it grew all around the pit after the cylinder opened. Or perhaps it was as nerf said: rogue spores or seeds on martian equipment. Whatever it was I don;t believe the weeds presence was intentional.

However, I always thought that it was an interesting way of offering a possible explanation for Mars' color from space.