Piranha Plants (sometimes spelt as Pirana Plant) are recurring enemies throughout the Mario series. They first appeared in the original Super Mario Bros. games, where they would come out of certain pipes. They then appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3, where they looked more like their modern design. They appear in Yoshi, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi's Woolly World and Yoshi's Crafted World. They're rarely edible in games, meaning Yoshi cannot eat them.
Piranha Plants are similar in appearance to the Venus fly trap. They have teeth to chomp with and have a red head with white spots. If Yoshi gets too close to a Piranha Plant, it will swallow him and Baby Mario will float off in a bubble. After a few seconds, the Piranha Plant will spit Yoshi out and whichever Yoshi you're playing as will have to catch Baby Mario. Another variety is a green Piranha Plant called the Wild Ptooie Piranha. It doesn't eat Yoshi, but instead shoots spikey cactus-like balls at him. It must be hit three times before dying, unlike the regular Piranha Plant, which dies after one shot. It turns orange, then red, then it dies. Yoshi cannot eat either type of Piranha Plant.
The Venus Fire Trap is another type of Piranha Plant, instead of eating Yoshi, Luigi and Mario, they prefer to spit fireballs.
Piranha Fish are also seen in Naval Piranha's fortress. They behave similarly to regular Piranha Plants. However, they do not die if you hit them with an egg.
Notable Piranha Plants are Petey Piranha and Naval Piranha.
The Piranha Plant is one of the enemy types to get bound by yarn in Yoshi's Woolly World.