The Jidra

One day last week I was talking to a friend of mine who is currently in the process of researching mythical creatures to use in a fantasy story she's planning. One of the ones she had come across in her search was the Jidra. I had never heard of such a creature, so she told me all about its traditional definition and her own twists on the idea.
The Jidra (pronounced JYE-dra) is essentially a carnivorous plan with an acutely awful disposition. While it must remain attached to the ground by its main root (which can be cut to kill it), it also has tentacle-like roots that it uses to grab anything within reach - plants, animals... and yes, unsuspecting story characters. Once it grabs a victim, it cocoons them inside itself and slowly sucks the life out of them. What a way to go, eh?
Anyway, my friend had searched all over the internet for a good artist's interpretation of a Jidra, something she could use as a reference for describing it in her story. Unfortunately, the only things she had been able to find were weird, cartoonish creatures that didn't look anything like she wanted, so she and I spent some time combing the web for anything that came anywhere close. We discovered that a banyan tree has very cool and somewhat creepy roots that resemble tentacles, so we started searching specifically for pictures of banyan trees.
One particular picture popped up that looked almost exactly like my friend said she imagined the Jidra in her story, so I saved it. Of course, it had some problems - a fence, a sign post, a pedestrian in the background. And it was entirely too bright and sunny to accurately portray the creepiness of a real Jidra. ; )
So, I decided to put my own artistic abilities to work. With the help of some octopus tentacles and a little computer magic... voila! The Jidra:


I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out, and I can't wait to show my friend when I see her again. I just hope it will help her out with visualizing the Jidra when it comes time to describe it, because for me, that's one of the hardest parts of building a fictional story world. I can see things in my head, but it's not always easy to define them well enough for readers to see them like I do. Having a picture, drawing, or other reference always makes it a ton easier.
Plus, I'm always glad for an opportunity to learn about new mythical creatures and potential future story elements.
Question: would you be interested in seeing more features like this here at the Lair? Or is there another topic you're more interested in discussing?