[Dune]Do alien plants exist in the universe of Dune?

[u/Elendil_686]

Intelligent aliens or even something simple as alien insect doesn't exist in Dune. All animals were brought from Earth and re-engineered to become new species from the original. But what about habital worlds where there is oxygen? Surely plants native to the planet must exist?

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[u/hallmark1984]

The worms are alien fauna, there is alien flora also on worlds but no intelligence*.

*shai-halud may or may not be intelligent, just not in ways we understand, if time is just another direction to look in we may not even be able to measure a mind lime like that

Edit got morning Mojitos on my mind

[u/of_kilter → u/hallmark1984]

How do you normally measure a mind lime?

[u/Awkward-Feature9333 → u/of_kilter]

With my trusty mind-lime-o-meter, of course. 

[u/hallmark1984 → u/of_kilter]

With Tequila.

Or Rum.

[u/Nothingnoteworth → u/hallmark1984]

You put it in a coconut, and… wait do you have to shake it? I don’t remember, I’ll ask Dr Yueh

[u/hallmark1984 → u/Nothingnoteworth]

Ahh he's amazing, the Suk it down school of bartenders make the most amazing drinks.

I almost remember trying a Pan-Galatic GargleBlaster once, I lost 13 months, a kidney, it's replacement and someone else's wife.

I might go for another actually

[u/TrifectaOfSquish]

Yes, there is lots of alien life across the Dune galaxy there just isn't intelligent alien life. Not all life forms are descendants of Earth life it's just that it's been easier for humanity in it's expansion to use that as a base point for establishing things plenty of worlds were already habitable but humans brought things like crops etc to those worlds

[u/Pseudonymico]

The books mention various alien animals and plants, eg the Harkonnens made their fortune off "whale-fur", fogwood from Ecaz is used for sculptures, and shigawire (a monofilament wire most commonly used to record information) is made from a vine native to Salusa Secondus.

[u/Travellerknight]

From my memory. Pretty sure the worms themselves are the only "alien" life we see.

Someone or something introduced the. To Arrakis and here we go.

There biology is the only reason there is breathable air on Arrakis

[u/basil_imperitor]

Heart Scallops are air-breathing giant clams, which were exploited to make ornithopters.

Edit: not a plant. But maybe they eat alien phytoplankton.

[u/Arthropodesque]

Are we sure that sand worms are alien? Maybe humans bioengineered them to help terraform Arrakis or to produce spice. They lost much of their technology and maybe their history after the Bhutlerian Jihad. It's been many thousands of years.

[u/this_for_loona → u/Arthropodesque]

The books never clear that up. They’re basically a deus ex machina that lets the plot move. I believe Herbert treated them as analogous to oil in our world (except we know where oil comes from).

[u/EveryAccount7729]

is spice not a plant?

(edit - I guess spice is worm fungus)

[u/ggouge]

In one of the later books don't they find ruins made by a non human intelligence

[u/Site-Staff → u/ggouge]

They turned out yo be human, commissioned by the Emperor.

[u/Trick_Pool_2537]

Tentative Yes because of "alien drugs" But it's unclear