''The Saliva Tree'' is a science fiction novella by British writer Brian W. Aldiss first published in the September 1965 issue of ''
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
''. It won the 1965
Nebula Award for Best Novella
The Nebula Award for Best Novella is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novellas. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novella if it is between 17,500 and 4 ...
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
in a tie).
''The Saliva Tree'' was written to mark the centenary of
Nebula Award for the best novella of 1965."Aldiss, Brian W." ''The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees''.
Locus Publications
''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...
. Retrieved 2 April 2013. While set in a Wellsian milieu, it contains two plot elements also found in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft: an object from space which causes crops and livestock to grow prolifically, but be unpalatable (''
The Colour out of Space
"The Colour Out of Space" is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" ...
'') and a monster which is visible only when sprayed with an opaque powder (''
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of '' Weird Tales'' (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusett ...