Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren vogelbam here with an episode from the
Speaker 1: Brainstuff Archives. There's a concept in business that often the
Speaker 1: best way to get more done isn't to work more
Speaker 1: or harder, but to delegate tasks. Researchers have found a
Speaker 1: plant that operates on the same principle. It actually outsources
Speaker 1: photosynthesis to a fungus. Hey brain Stuff Lauren bogebom Here.
Speaker 1: If you visit Yakoshima, Japan, you'll have the chance to
Speaker 1: encounter the subtropical islands most popular attraction and ancient forest
Speaker 1: of craggy cedar trees with massive trunks that reach more
Speaker 1: than sixteen feet that's five meters in diameter. But don't
Speaker 1: spend all your time looking up into the leafy canopy.
Speaker 1: There's likely to be a plant at your feet that's
Speaker 1: just as interesting. Thanks to one observant scientist, we now
Speaker 1: know the area is also home to one of the
Speaker 1: world's smallest and most unique parasitic plant pants. Back in tift,
Speaker 1: sweet Sugu Kenji, then a project associate at the Kobe
Speaker 1: University Graduate School of Science, canvassed the island for plant
Speaker 1: specimens with photographer Yamashita hiro Aki. In the process, Kenji
Speaker 1: came across a diminutive and unfamiliar plant. Kenji suspected the plant,
Speaker 1: just five centimeters that's two inches in height, with cabernet
Speaker 1: colored stems and buds, was a mico heterotrophic plant, so
Speaker 1: he collected it for further examination. These parasitic plants get
Speaker 1: their name from the unusual way they obtain nutrients. They
Speaker 1: basically outsourced photosynthesis to a fungus. Most plants rely on photosynthesis,
Speaker 1: a process by which they transform energy from the sun
Speaker 1: into chemical energy that serves as a nutrient source. The
Speaker 1: parasitic plant collected by Kenji doesn't need photosynthesis to survive.
Speaker 1: It evolved in such a way that it obtains all
Speaker 1: its water, minerals, and carbohydrates from fungi. In this case,
Speaker 1: the plant's root system takes what it needs from fungi
Speaker 1: on ancient tree roots, even if the roots are all
Speaker 1: that remain in now deforested areas. It's a symbiotic relationship.
Speaker 1: Another example of this behavior is the parasitic plant Raphileisia arnaldi,
Speaker 1: colloquially called a corpse flower because its smell has been
Speaker 1: compared to rotting flesh, it steals water and nutrients from
Speaker 1: the roots of nearby vines, eventually creating a massive blossom.
Speaker 1: The ability of plants like this newly identified one in
Speaker 1: Japan has been one of the most intriguing and secretive
Speaker 1: processes in botany's history. The only time these newly discovered
Speaker 1: plants appear above ground is when they briefly flower or fruit,
Speaker 1: making it exceedingly difficult to find or study them. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article lazy cheating plant lives
Speaker 1: underground outsources photosynthesis to fungus on how stuff works dot Com,
Speaker 1: written by Laurel Dove. Brain Stuff is production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com
Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
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