WEBVTT - How Can a Plant Outsource Photosynthesis? 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:07.040 Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.560 Lauren vogelbam here. If you visit Yakushima, Japan, you'll have 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.280 the chance to encounter the subtropical islands most popular attraction, 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.079 an ancient forest of craggy cedar trees with massive trunks 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.080 that reach more than sixteen feet that's five meters in diameter. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.720 But don't spend all your time looking up into the 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.640 leafy canopy. There's likely to be a plant at your 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.600 feet that's just as interesting. Thanks to one observant scientist, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.040 we now know the area is also home to one 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:37.200 of the world's smallest and most unique parasitic plants. Back 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:40.960 in sweet Suga Kenji, then a project associate at the 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.160 Kobe University Graduate School of Science, canvas to the island 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:48.199 for plant specimens with photographer Yamashita hiro Aki. In the process, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.040 Kenji came across a diminutive and unfamiliar plant. Ken She 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.320 suspected the plant, just five centimeters that's two inches in height, 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.720 with cabernet colored stems and buds, was a mico heterotrophic plant, 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.720 so he collected it for further examination. These parasitic plants 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.039 get their name from the unusual way they obtain nutrients. 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:11.600 They basically outsource photosynthesis to a fungus. Most plants rely 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.880 on photosynthesis, a process by which they transform energy from 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.160 the sun into chemical energy that serves as a nutrient source. 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.360 The parasitic plant collected by Kenji doesn't need photosynthesis to survive. 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:24.640 It evolved in such a way that it obtains all 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:28.680 its water, minerals, and carbohydrates from fungi. In this case, 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.320 the plant's root system takes what it needs from fungi 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.080 on ancient tree roots, even if the roots are all 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:38.040 that remain in now deforested areas. It's a symbiotic relationship. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.520 Another example of this behavior is the parasitic plant Raphaelisia arnaldi, 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.840 colloquially called a corpse flower because its smell has been 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.240 compared to rotting flesh. It steals water and nutrients from 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:53.720 the roots of nearby vines, eventually creating a massive blossom. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.360 The ability of plants like this newly identified one in 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.400 Japan has been one of the most intriguing and secretive 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:03.080 processes in botany's history. The only time these newly discovered 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.400 plants appear above ground is when they briefly flower or fruit, 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:14.920 making it exceedingly difficult to find or study them. Today's 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.320 episode was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.440 Tyler Clang. For more on this and other intriguing and 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.120 secretive topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:35.560 com