its first use in connection with life beyond earth was likely by h. g. wells, in his 1898 novel the war of the worlds. description 
it is a fairly large species, at up to  in length. there may be multiple branches, each of which is fairly small. the plant contains four 60 foot high presses. as of 2021, they are permanently closed. it has a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, with black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose, and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. 