Pit Plant

Cactus Piranha Plants are a dark green colored variety of Big Piranha Plants with spikes on their faces that live in quicksand pits in the desert. They only appear in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! in Dry Dry Desert, where there is one Cactus Piranha Plant in the course located in the quicksand pit waiting for racers to fall in.

The Cactus Piranha Plant was removed in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as Lakitu pulls the player out of the pit before they fall in.

Trivia

 * The Cactus Piranha Plant is possibly a reference to the Sarlaac Pit in Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. It is also similar to the Piranha Plants of Yoshi Desert in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.