Episode 71: Weird Plants by botanist Chris Thorogood

Houseplants are all weird and wonderful, but there are some that outdo the rest for their ability to surprise us. Dr Chris Thorogood is a botanist at Oxford Botanic Garden with a clever sideline in painting brilliant pictures of the plants he loves and studies: his new book, Weird Plants, is a brilliant book for anyone who wants to delve a bit deeper into some of the strangest corners of the botanical world. In today’s episode I find out from Chris why engineers are studying the slippery qualities of Nepenthes pitchers, which creature uses Low’s pitcher plant as a toilet, and why Stapelia flowers look mouldy. See full show notes here: https://is.gd/P6okrd  Sign up for The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene: https://www.janeperrone.com/ledger Check out Legends of the Leaf, my book on houseplants http://legendsoftheleafbook.com Support On The Ledge on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ontheledge Follow Jane Perrone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.l.perrone Join the Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/house... Join in #HouseplantHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9pm UK time (4pm ET): https://twitter.com/houseplanthour