1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,160 Speaker 1: Guess what will what's that man? Go? Did you know 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: if there's a poison garden in northeastern England. It's a 3 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: full garden devoted exclusively to poisonous plants. It sounds so evil, 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: but I kind of love it. So what's the purpose 5 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: of this? So when I first read about the garden, 6 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: I imagine it had been there for like hundreds of years, 7 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: but it's only about twenty years old. A duchess inherited 8 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: the gardens and she wanted to do something super fun 9 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: with them, and she thought what could get kids more 10 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: interested than a garden where you're expressly forbidden from stopping 11 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: and smelling the flowers. So is it actually dangerous? Yeah? 12 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: It really is. So when I saw a picture of 13 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: some of the gardeners tending it, they were basically head 14 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: to toe and hazmat suits. They wear gloves to protect 15 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: their hands from boiling up, and they covered their bodies. 16 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: It's crazy, But hearing about the castle, which by the way, 17 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: actually served as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies, and 18 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: this whole poison garden, it made me realize I know 19 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: nothing about the secret world of dangerous and deceptive plants, 20 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: and so that's what today's show is all about. Why 21 00:00:53,800 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: don't we dive in? Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome to 22 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm 23 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: joined by my good friend man Guestot Ticketers, and today 24 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: we're talking about some of the weirdest, funniest, most dangerous 25 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: plants out there. Kind of a field guide to plants 26 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: your mother wouldn't approve of. Now I go, are you 27 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: actually into plants? I mean not really? So I know 28 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: your wife knows a ton about nature and plants, and 29 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: she has an environmental science degree. And my grandfather was 30 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: a botanist and Forrester, so my mom knows a ton 31 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: about plants. But I know virtually nothing. It's like I've 32 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: tuned out everything they've been talking about all my life. 33 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: But you were the one that wanted to do this 34 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: episode so bad? What what? What was it that got 35 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: too intrigued? That's right. So our pal Austin helped me 36 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: research a bunch of plants for the episode. But I 37 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: think there are two things that really got me interested. 38 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: So the first was I read a little about Liz 39 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: Christie story. Do you know Liz Christie? Yeah, So in 40 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: the early seventies. Christie was this landscape painter in New 41 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: York City who saw these rundown neighborhoods supposedly as canvases 42 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: that she could play with. So she'd go into these 43 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: really rough areas with seed bombs. She'd like take a 44 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: water balloon and fill it with a mixture of seeds 45 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: and water and compost, and then she'd throw it into 46 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: these barren places in like the Bowery or whatever. And 47 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: it was kind of the first guerrilla gardening. I love 48 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: these sea grenades. I mean today they actually make them 49 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: with wildflowers. You can toss them into fields and watch 50 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: them attract honey bees or whatever. Yeah, it's funny. So 51 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: my dad's friend actually had a patent on sad that 52 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: you could roll out with wildflowers for the same purpose, 53 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: but it never caught on, unfortunately. But Liz Christie was amazing. 54 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: She did other things too, Like she'd sneak into these 55 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: rough areas with composts and tomato and cucumber plants and 56 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: wood and whatever, and she just build vegetable gardens where 57 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: she couldn't end. Slowly, the community started pitching in and 58 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: harvesting the vegetables. But when the authorities got wind of it, 59 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: they tried to stop it, but you know, Christie was 60 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: super savvy and she took her story to the press, 61 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: and eventually the city got on board. Like they started 62 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: leasing all these abandoned plots to community gardeners for a 63 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: dollar garden and offering seeds and tools for cheap and 64 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: the movement really took off. Like in the late eighties, 65 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: there were supposedly eight hundred community gardens in the city. 66 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: Eight hundred. I mean, that is an awesome story. So alright, so, 67 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: so what does this have to do with dangerous plants? 68 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: I know? So I'm off to tangents immediately. And it 69 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: didn't take long ago. But I read a little about 70 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: Christie and her seed bombs and started thinking does nature 71 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: do this at all? And then I stumbled into a 72 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: book called Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, which is so 73 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: good and I'm gonna be referencing it throughout the show. 74 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: But there's a chapter in it called Duck and Cover. 75 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: Duck and cover, Yeah, And the chapter is filled with 76 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: dangerous explosive plants like get this. So here's what Stewart 77 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: writes about the gorse bush quote on a hot day 78 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: sitting near a gors can be hazardous. The pods explode 79 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: without warning, ejecting seeds into the air with a noise 80 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: that sounds like a gunshot. This is basically a plant 81 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: that lures you in with flowers that smell like scented 82 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: coconuts or custard, but then it takes pot shots that 83 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: you when the weather is right. And there are others 84 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: like this too, like like the seeds of a dynamite 85 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: tree can shoot up to like three feet away, or 86 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: or there's a dwarf mistletoe, which is actually related to 87 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: the plant from Christmas time, the one everybody kisses under. Yeah, 88 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: so it can actually shoot seeds out at sixty miles 89 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: per hour. These plants are no joke. But the most 90 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: disgusting exploding plant I heard about the squirting cucumbers. Just 91 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: by its name, that sounds so gross. Is it shootout cucumbers? 92 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: It rapid fire or what what happens here? Yeah? What's 93 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: insane is that most of these plants are pretty closely 94 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: related to some normal plants. So the squirting cucumber is 95 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: actually related to cucumbers and gourds and squashes. It's like 96 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: in that general family. But it's so much grosser. And 97 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: at first I thought the squirting was about the wetness 98 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,239 Speaker 1: shooting out, and it is. As Stewart writes, the plants 99 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: two inch long fruits are famous for bursting when right, 100 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: squirting a slimy mucus like use and seeds almost twenty 101 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: feet away. You've said, squirting too much, just starting to 102 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: gross me. And it sounds like a vegetable from like 103 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: Nickelodeon or something. I mean, the fact that it's slimy 104 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: makes it so much more gross, I know, But but 105 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: it's dangerous too. Apparently that veggie mucus will sting your 106 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:16,799 Speaker 1: skin if it touches it, and it'll make you vomit 107 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: if you ingest it. But the worst thing about the 108 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: squirting cucumber if you accidentally ingested in a drink, like 109 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: if that mucus shoots twenty ft into your beer glass 110 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: or whatever, the squirting cucumber will give you the squirts. 111 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: I think we've talked enough about this one. I think 112 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: it's definitely worth avoiding. But honestly, I can see why 113 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: you're fascinated by this stuff. And when you told me 114 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: about this episode and the field guide idea, I was 115 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: thinking it'd be really fun to organize some of these 116 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: plants and the categories of kids you might want to 117 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: avoid on the playground. You know, there's those explosive types 118 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: definitely sound like the emotionally volatile kids you'd want to 119 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: tiptoe around. But why don't we start I don't know, 120 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: why don't we start with the pig pens. I mean, 121 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: I want some of that stinky stuff you can't help 122 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: but avoid. Yeah, the pig pens. I love it. So 123 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: let me just look through my notes because I know 124 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: what I wanted to talk about here. So I started 125 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: listing off a few favorites just because the smells are 126 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: so amazing, just in case you're like looking for a 127 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: new cologne or whatever. So the Stinky Gord smells like armpits. 128 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: That even has stinky in its name. Yeah, it's actually 129 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: called the Missouri Gord or the fetid Cord, but it 130 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: smells pretty bad. Then you've got the calorie pair, which 131 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: is this tree that smells like rotten fish and the 132 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: box would and when it gets too much sunshine, it 133 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: actually smells like cat pe Wow, which is kind of funny, right. 134 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: I Mean, I feel like so many of the facts 135 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: that you and I remember are about things that smell good, 136 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: you know, like the bent a wrong. Is this half bear, 137 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: half cat looking thing that actually smells like buttered popcorn? Yeah, 138 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: I love that, But this shrub actually feels like it 139 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: belongs in a litter box. But to me, the greatest 140 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: pig pen of them all, the plant that most needs 141 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: a bath has to be the corpse flower. All right, 142 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: So I take that bent a wrong fact back, because 143 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: I know we have discussed the corpse flower in the 144 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: past that it's it's kind of like the rock star 145 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: plant for smelling so bad. I know, people travel, we'll 146 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: see it bloom, not just because of how bad it smells, 147 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: but also because it doesn't bloom that often. I think. 148 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: I remember, it's huge, right, is it like seven ft 149 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: tall or something. Yeah, it's kind of magnificently large and 150 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: also really putrid. And apparently when it blooms, the spadix, 151 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: which is this giant fleshy stem, heats up to about 152 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: ninety degrees to help cook up and spread that aroma. 153 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: And actually I wrote down some of the things the 154 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: corse flower supposedly smells like according to observers, So the 155 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: most common description is quote smells like death, which which 156 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: feels a little on the nose for something called the 157 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: corse flower. But if you've got a more discerning palette, 158 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: it might smell like well, rotting flesh, hot garbage, diapers, 159 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: rotten fish, cheese, smelly socks, and also cabbage cabbage, which 160 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: actually might be the worst smelling of all of those things. 161 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: And I love that humans are so curious about how 162 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,119 Speaker 1: bad something smells. I mean, they immediately want to smell 163 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: it too. It kind of reminds me. You remember that 164 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: old Tom Hank sketch from S and All. He drinks 165 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: that sip of old milk and he's like, oh, this 166 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: is so terrible, we have to try it. The next 167 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: person comes over and tries it, says the same thing, 168 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: and they just keep smelling and eating these terrible things 169 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: because they just have to try it for themselves. But 170 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: we kind of do this naturally as humans for some reason. Yeah, 171 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: And to be clear, I have no interest in traveling 172 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: out of my way to smell a corpse flower. But 173 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: it also feels to me like the Harry Potter jelly beans, 174 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: you know, where they It could be delightful or disgusting, 175 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: and either way, people are happy to have tried to. 176 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: You know, my kids love those things. Oh mine too. 177 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: Some of them are so gross. There were a couple 178 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: I honestly could not eat. Speaking of Harry Potter, Actually 179 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: do want to talk about the man breaks and some 180 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: of the other stuff from the books that exist in 181 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: real life. But before we do that, can we do 182 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: a quick section on I don't know, let's call the 183 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: Eddie Haskell plants. Why Eddie Haskell? Well, these are the 184 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: plants that seem totally harmless and kind of like goody 185 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: two shoes, but can actually be bad influences. Yeah, there 186 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: there are a lot of plants. I didn't realize we're dangerous. 187 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: Like there's the Laurel hedges, which always seems so running 188 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,079 Speaker 1: the mill to me. They're actually in that point is 189 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: in garden we talked about at the top. Apparently when 190 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: people trimmed the hedges and take the clippings to the dump, 191 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: they've fallen asleep behind the wheel from the fumes. Oh wow, 192 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: All right, do you have anything that's maybe a little 193 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: more common than that though, Yeah, I've got a couple. 194 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: So rhubarb believes are apparently toxic. There's this terrific story 195 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: from a Great Britain in nineteen seventeen when a cook 196 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: used a recipe she found in the newspaper. It was 197 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: in this wartime tips column, and the combination of adding 198 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: baking soda to the rhubarb actually killed the minister she 199 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 1: was cooking for. It was super tragic. But apparently the 200 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: leaves can cause weakness and difficulty breathing on their own 201 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: and uh. And then there are things like cashews, you know, 202 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: but which I know you and I have talked about before. 203 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: But cashews, while they're totally delicious, the plant actually comes 204 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: from the same family as poison oak and ivy and 205 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: you actually have to steam them open to get to 206 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: the tasty truths. So even though you're getting them supposedly row, 207 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: they're actually coming to you a little cooked. But you know, 208 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: Amy Stewart tells this horrible story of a little league 209 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 1: game in Pennsylvania where they sold some cashews that had 210 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: pieces of a shell in them, and this law huge 211 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: percentage of the little league parents ended up with rashes 212 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: on their arms and armpits and buttocks for the fruit. 213 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know why buttocks these people 214 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: put in their cashews. But my favorite deceptively nice plant 215 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: that's actually not worth hanging out with. Celery. What's what's 216 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: so bad about celery? Well, nothing in small doses. But 217 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 1: if you eat a pound of it and then go 218 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: to a tanning salt, the celery will actually make you 219 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: extremely sensitive to UV light and it can pigment your 220 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: skin color and give you blisters. I mean, if you're 221 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: going tanning, go light on the cellery. It's really good advice. 222 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: I'm glad we're here for our listeners, but that does 223 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: sound awful. All right, So we've done a few unhinged 224 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: plants that will pop off at you, some stinky plants 225 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: you'll probably know to avoid, and then those sneaky, silent 226 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: ones that are hiding a dark side. So how about 227 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: we save some of the liars, cheats and Harry Potter 228 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: plants for after a break. So at the top of 229 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: the show, we were talking about this incredib about Poisoned Garden, 230 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: and we're lucky today because we actually have the head 231 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: gardener at the Poisoned Garden. But Trevor Jones welcomed to 232 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: part time genius. Hello. All right, so one of our 233 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: favorite things is just the sign to the entrance that says, 234 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: these plants can kill and it's so ominous. What's the 235 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: philocity behind the garden and how do you choose what 236 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: plants go in there? The Duchess of Northumberland, who created 237 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: the hold of the garden, was fascinated with poisonous plants. 238 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: She felt that children these days tend to sit in 239 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: front of computer screens and look at them of our phones, 240 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: but never get out into the big wide world and 241 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: experience the environment that they're growing up in. So she 242 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: was aware that many children these days don't know the 243 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: harmful effects of plants, especially native plants that grow here 244 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: in the UK, but also some exotic ones, and so 245 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: part of the reasoning for the Poison Garden was to 246 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 1: capture the imagination of a child and teach them about 247 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: the harmful effects of plants and how they would all 248 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: kill you. So we have storytellers that build up a 249 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: huge drama before anybody actually enters, and you're warned not 250 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: to touch the plants, stand too close to them, smell them, 251 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: will definitely not taste them, because they all have the 252 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: ability to kill you. Well, speaking of children, I'm guessing 253 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: these plants are kind of like children, and that you 254 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: can't pick a favorite, but we're still going to ask 255 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: you anyway, do you have a favorite plant? There? I 256 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: like to tell the story of acrono item. It's a 257 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: cottage garden plant. It's her basis. It dives down the winter, 258 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: shoots up again in the spring, and it has fantastic, 259 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: deep blue flowers. It's often called monkshood because the flower 260 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: looks like an old fashioned monkshood. Now, the whole of 261 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: that plant is poisonous, but we relate it to an 262 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: up to date murder story because in two thousands and ten, 263 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: a woman called lack Finder Singh who had fallen out 264 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: with her lover. He had kicked her out of the 265 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: home that they shared, so to get revenge on him, 266 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: she found some aconite the police seed, and she crushed 267 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: it up and then went back into the house and 268 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: third into his curry which was in the fridge. He 269 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: then returned home from work with his new girlfriend and 270 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: ad to curry, and he died within thirty six hours. 271 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: And when toxicology reports came back, they said that it 272 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: was all down to aconite and poisoning, and they chased 273 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: it back to luck Finder and she's now in prison. 274 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: So when did it occur to you that being a 275 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: poison gardener could be a real job. Well, I came 276 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: to Annick ten years ago and I've never heard about 277 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: a collection of poisonous plants, although I've been in gardening 278 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: all my days until I got to Annek and then 279 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: the fascination that is all about the Poison Garden started 280 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: to infect me as well, and so I was very 281 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: keen on poisonous plants. And I'm curious, how did the 282 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: Harry Potter movies filming there change admissions to the garden. 283 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: We've had a spinoff from how He Potter film because 284 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,080 Speaker 1: in how He pos talked about Man Drake, and so 285 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,719 Speaker 1: we grow Man Drake in the Poison Garden because there's 286 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: a lot of superstition around Man Drake. At one time 287 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: that was more prized than gold for its magical properties, 288 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: and even today people will buy mandrake roots and chop 289 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: them up. It's supposed to be a very good affle 290 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: dizzy act, but I can't guarantee you now. But there's 291 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: a lot of superstition about the plant. And the plant 292 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: has a very strong, thick cap roots very much like 293 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: a carrot, but it forks, so it's often have two 294 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: stems to it, so when it gets dug up, it 295 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: can often look like a little man with two legs 296 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: and two arms, and they say that it's the devil himself. 297 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: And if you dig a mandrake up, you can actually 298 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: hear it's screaming as it comes up out of the ground. 299 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: And then when you see it, it does look like 300 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: a little like a little man. And so if you 301 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: do that, you're cursed. So the stories goes. If you 302 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: want to get rid of your man drake used to 303 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: have to tie a rope around the manre it itself 304 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: and then around donkey or a dog. Kick the donkey 305 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: or the dog and they would run off and they 306 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: would pull an and rake up and as it screamed, 307 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: so they heard the screaming, they were the culprit because 308 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: they pulled it up. The donkey or the dog was 309 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: cursed and you survived to tell the tale. What's the 310 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: best thing you overhear the gardens? Like, what's the most 311 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: satisfying part of the job in the poison garden. It's 312 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: relating the stories that we tell to everyday occurrences we 313 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: grow in the poison garden. We grow just common laurel 314 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: and a lot of our visitors will grow low as 315 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: a hedge. It's very very common evergreen plant, but it 316 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: has the ability to kill you, believe it or not, 317 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: because the laurel leaves um produce cyanide. So when you 318 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: cut your laurel hedge, if you accept up the clippings 319 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: and put them into your car to take them to 320 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: the dump, as you sit in your car, so the 321 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: cyanide will start to build up in the car. That 322 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: then affects your nervous system and it's starts the brain 323 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 1: of oxygen. And so many people don't be like that, 324 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: and lots of our visitors have told us that they 325 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: have start exactly that they's driven to the dump with 326 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: these cuttings in the back of their car and they've 327 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: got very light headed and one gentleman he is admitted 328 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: to crashing into a lamp post. It was all down 329 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: to cyanide poisoning. What's Trevor, I can't wait to get 330 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: over to the gardens. This has been fascinating and thanks 331 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on Part Time Genius. Well pleasure, 332 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: welcome back to Part Time Genius. Today we've been thumbing 333 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: our way through a field guide of plants. Your mother 334 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't approve of I knew all this talk of plants 335 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: and poisons has reminded me of that Debora Bloom story 336 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: and the roots of c s I. You know, that's 337 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: actually one of my favorite stories. But would you mind 338 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: telling it to our listeners. So Debora Blooms, this wonderful 339 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: journalist who wrote The Poisoner's Handbook. But in it she 340 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: tells this great story from Belgium. It's about poisoning by 341 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: nicotine in the eighteen fifties. So basically at the time 342 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: no one knew how to detect plant alkaloids from dead bodies. 343 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: And the way she tells that, there's a French prosecutor 344 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: and a famous death by morphine case, and he confirms 345 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: this in the trial and in the courtroom he said, 346 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: let us tell would be poisoners, use plant poisons, fear nothing. 347 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 1: Your crime will go unpunished. There's no physical evidence, it 348 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: cannot be found. I mean he was talking from a 349 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: point of frustration. But at least one person took his advice. 350 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: It was the Count of Boucarmi. So this is one 351 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: of those classic cases of people killing their relative for inheritance, 352 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: and the Count and Countess lived extravagantly. They were basically 353 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: like the FitzGeralds of their time, throwing outrageous parties and 354 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: living beyond their means. So they needed more cash, and 355 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: they knew that when the count as sickly brother passed away, 356 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: they'd inherit his loot, But it turns out he wasn't 357 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: dying fast enough, so they decided to speed up the process. 358 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: So the count started experience ending with nicotine poisoning. He 359 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: had this converted laundry shaw that he turned into a 360 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,919 Speaker 1: lab and claimed he was using it to mix up perfumes. 361 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: But when his servants peek in, he's extracting things from 362 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: plants and has vials and burners set up in there, 363 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: and suddenly tiny dead animals starts showing up left outside 364 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: the lab. I mean, they saw dead birds, rabbits and 365 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: several other animals, which was of course suspicious to them, 366 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: and so they take note of this. And then the 367 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: couple had their in law over for dinner, and there's 368 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: more suspicious stuff that happens. Then they send the kids 369 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: away for dinner to eat elsewhere, which is pretty unusual 370 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: for them. The Countess insists on ladling out the food 371 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: herself and distributing the plates herself and the servants are 372 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: pointedly sent away, and then during the course of the meal, 373 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: her brother passes out with a thud. The count and 374 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: countess claim it's a stroke, but something fishy has clearly happened, 375 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: and they rinse his throat with vinegar and burned the 376 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: dead man's clothes and basically get rid of all the evidence, 377 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: which sounds so shady, right, I know, But here's the 378 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 1: genius of it and why plant poisoning used to work 379 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: so well. The nicotine is made up of super simple 380 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: organic materials. It's just carbon and nitrogen and hydrogen and 381 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: you know, all the stuff that's in the air and 382 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: in our bodies. But it's also a super effective poison 383 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: that works astonishingly well and at high speeds when it's 384 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: in high doses. And so the servants report the case, 385 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: and the police knew who did it, but have zero proof. 386 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: Then Belgian's most famous chemist, Jeane sarves Stas, who spends 387 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: three months figuring out how to pull alkaloids from preserved tissues, 388 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: and he finally uses the proof to convince a judge 389 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: of their guilt, and the justice is swift, but The 390 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: crazy part is that while Stas's process has been updated, 391 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: according to Bloom, it's still used in toxicology labs today. Crazy. 392 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: It really is kind of the rut of CSID. But 393 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 1: what's the moral of all this? I guess the moral 394 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: would be, you know, don't use plants to murder your 395 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: friends and family. And maybe more than that, don't murder. 396 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 1: That would be that the moral don't murder does like 397 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: smart words to live by, and uh, you know what's funny. 398 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: Amy Stewart makes this point in the book that poisons 399 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: are all around us, like a lot of common house 400 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 1: plants are poisonous. The peace lily, the philodendron. I mean, 401 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: we had both of those in our home growing up. 402 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: And the truth is you probably wouldn't eat much of 403 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: either because they'd make your mouth burned before you'd scarf 404 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: down too much. Well, what's interesting is that most house 405 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: plants were never chosen for their safety. They were chosen 406 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 1: because they thrive year round in a fifty to seventy 407 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: degree climate, you know, the same temperature as our homes, 408 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: which is why many of them are actually tropical plants 409 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: from South American and African jungles. I mean that's something 410 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,640 Speaker 1: I never considered. Yeah, me either. But I think we've 411 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: gotten a little off topic here, so let's let's get 412 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 1: back to some of those plants your mom doesn't want 413 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: you playing with. I have to be I love that 414 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: squirting cucumber plant. You got any more like that? Yeah? 415 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: So there are two other plants I flagged. The first 416 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: one is called the African milk tree, and it's disgusting 417 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: because if you don't prune it carefully, it can squirt. 418 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: The African milk sapp at get big with the squirts. 419 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,239 Speaker 1: I guess you took that requests the most terrifying. And 420 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: there's this one scientist who's pruning his tree and he 421 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: got it right in the eye and he used to 422 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: have like vision in the eye, and then he went 423 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: legally blind and that sounds terrible. But after a rigorous 424 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: course of sailing that he gave himself for ten days, 425 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: his eye went back to being, which I thought was crazy. 426 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: That it causes this temporary blindness that you can come 427 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: back from. Wow, that's wild, all right. And and the 428 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: other one, Yeah, so this one's totally amazing and also 429 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: temporarily takes away from one of your abilities. But it's 430 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: called the dumb cane. As Amy Stewart puts a quote, 431 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,360 Speaker 1: this tropical South American plant is well known for its 432 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: ability to temporarily inflame vocal cords, leaving people completely unable 433 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,119 Speaker 1: to speak. And that does sound like something out of 434 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: Harry Potter, and we did promise to talk about her, definitely, 435 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: So it's like straight out of the Charms and Potions 436 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: books or any of Professor Sprouts lessons. But before we 437 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: get into that, the plant diffian Bakia has one more 438 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: unusual side effect. In the Caribbean, men used to chew 439 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: it as a male contraceptive, really because they ust their 440 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,919 Speaker 1: ability to smooth talk women or something. No, it actually 441 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: has nothing to do with them losing their voice. There's 442 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: some sort of historical preparation that we don't know about 443 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: that people used to use to make sure they didn't 444 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: have kids, and it was kind of like an early 445 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: version of the male pill. It supposedly lasted forty eight hours. 446 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: But what's weirder is that the Nazis actually started playing 447 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: with the plant in the hopes that they could make 448 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: certain populations sterile, and luckily they could never get enough 449 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: of the plant to really experiment on. That's really creepy, 450 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: but I do love the idea of plants with superpowers. 451 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: All right, what other Harry Potter type plants. Well, there's 452 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,959 Speaker 1: also the Man Drake, which Trevor talked about earlier on 453 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,119 Speaker 1: at Hogwarts. Mandrakes are one of those plants that are 454 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 1: always wailing and whining. Would they get pulled out of 455 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: the soil and they shriek at these high pitched volumes. 456 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: But I had no idea. That was like a myth 457 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,639 Speaker 1: from medieval times, And in fact, Austin told me that 458 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 1: the preferred method for uprooting Man Drake was to use 459 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: a rope and tie it to a dog and then 460 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: just leave, and when the dog finally pulled away, the 461 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: man Drake would get uprooted. But there was this idea 462 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,160 Speaker 1: that even the dog might die from doing the uprooting, 463 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: which I just think that's the worst possible way. Yeah, 464 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: let's not do it that way. So um any Stewart 465 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: actually has another story about the plant, and that's that 466 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: Hannibal used to leave Mandrake confused wines for his enemies, 467 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: which would intoxicate them and give them hallucinations, and then 468 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: you'd come back to easily defeat them when they were 469 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 1: drunk and drugged. Of course, the fact that he used 470 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: to ride and on giant elephants probably only made those 471 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: hallucinations were so I'm guessing. Yeah. So there's some other 472 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: plants that get shout outs in Harry Potter, like monks Hood, 473 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: which is actually a toxic plant that gardeners need gloves 474 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,479 Speaker 1: to handle. But I kind of love the plants that 475 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: cure things. And one I found completely fascinating is the 476 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: ordeal beans. Oh I know about these? Aren't these the 477 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: truth telling beans? Like I think I read that if 478 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: you swallow the beans and vomited, you were considered innocent, 479 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: but if you ate the beans and died, then you 480 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,919 Speaker 1: were guilty. Yes, this perverse logic, and it was kind 481 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: of like at the Salem witch trials, where if you're 482 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: thrown in a river and drown, you were innocent, but 483 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: if you floated you were definitely a witch. But doesn't. 484 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,679 Speaker 1: What's fascinating about these beans to me. What's crazy is 485 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: that the beans are actually an antidote or a cure 486 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: for mandrake poisoning, Like if you've been poisoned by man 487 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: drake in an emergency room, they can actually use these 488 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: beans to restore heartbeats and snap people back into consciousness. 489 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: That is incredible. All right. So, so we've covered the 490 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: Eddie Haskell's the stink weeds, and now we've covered some 491 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: of the plants your mom might worry or two into 492 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: fantasy or something. I guess those are the uh let's 493 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: call those the comic concept. But I think it's time 494 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 1: to get to talk about one we've been waiting for. 495 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: And these are the bad boys of plant life, the 496 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: liars and the cheats and the overseex plants that are 497 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: a little too salacious for their own good until I'm 498 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: ready for this, right all right, So before we get 499 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: to those, how but we take a little break, all right, man. 500 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: This is a special treat today because usually our quiz 501 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: takers join us by phone, but today our guests are 502 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: here in studio with us. We have the hosts of 503 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: one of my favorite shows called Food Stuff here at 504 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works, Annie Reese and Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to 505 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: part time Genius. Thanks for having yeah, thank you so much. 506 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: All right, So, again, like I mentioned, this is one 507 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: of my favorite shows and it's so fun because it's 508 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 1: not just history and science it's like all of this 509 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 1: combined in a way that I haven't heard many food 510 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: shows doing. And I was curious to hear from you guys. 511 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: You know what gave you the idea to start the show? Well, 512 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: first of all, all hush and and second of all, Um, 513 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: I don't know. We love food. Yeah, we're kind of 514 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,640 Speaker 1: super nerds about it. Yeah. Annie in particular, I think 515 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: the day that I realized that I wanted her on 516 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: the show, Um, I came to her, it was like, please, 517 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: we had the show. I need a co host. And 518 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: it's so terrific. Was we were out in in Austin 519 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: at south By Southwest and she had planned months in advance, 520 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: like and like put in orders for barbecue places and 521 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: like had this entire map of everywhere that we needed 522 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: to go to eat in the sea and I was 523 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: like this one, Like this is I call it maximizing. 524 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: I like to maximize my experience when I visited city, 525 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: and uh, we had such a good time. We tried 526 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 1: so much good food. Yeah. We get so excited about 527 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: all the research because every episode has a fact that 528 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: I just would never have never have guests. Yea, it's 529 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,719 Speaker 1: so interesting through food science. I feel a little bit 530 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,719 Speaker 1: less like a you know, mad scientist in training. Right, 531 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,479 Speaker 1: how do you guys come up with the topics? Obviously 532 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: there are a lot of foods out there, but how 533 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: do you decide which ones to focus on? We do 534 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,360 Speaker 1: get a lot of requests in from listeners and those 535 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: are tremendously helpful, like stuff that we wouldn't necessarily have 536 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: thought to do. But also it's just like we'll run 537 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: across stuff. You know, what was it this week? Aspects? Aspects? Oh, 538 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 1: I went on such a rabbit hole about as it's 539 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: a meat gelatine. Um, these were really big in like 540 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,400 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties or so. It's a jelly mold that's savory, 541 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: made of usually like bone broth a k A stock 542 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: as they call it in the industry, and that that'll 543 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: set up into a good solid mold and it's usually 544 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: got like bits of meat and egg and vegetable and 545 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: off in it. It's they look they look like they're 546 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,880 Speaker 1: from a hell dimension. Yeah, I mean, I mean they're 547 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: supposedly delicious. They made me laugh alout just looking at 548 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: the picture. Highly recommends to go down a similar rabbit hole. Well, 549 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: for our listeners, there have been great episodes on Bloody 550 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: Mary's Fried Chicken, Honey, the Weird History of the Graham Cracker, 551 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: which is I expected it to be a great episode 552 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,239 Speaker 1: and it was so so it's always a lot of fun. 553 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: Part of the reason we wanted to have you on 554 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: today though, as you did uh an episode recently about 555 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: the tomato and you know we're doing this episode on 556 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,919 Speaker 1: dangerous and poisonous plans. You guys have talked about how 557 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: Europeans for for a long time thought that tomatoes were poisonous. 558 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,159 Speaker 1: I thought it gets you guys to explain why that 559 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: was certainly wealthy Europeans. I think that the poorer folks 560 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: were just like, it's a food, you should eat it, right, Well, 561 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,920 Speaker 1: wealthier Europeans like to eat off of these fancy pewter plates, 562 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: especially at the time this was around the f fifteen 563 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: or sixteen hundreds m h. And tomatoes have a lot 564 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: of acid, and so the acid would cause um, lead 565 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: to leak out of the pewter plates and could lead 566 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: to lead poisoning, which can lead to death. Yeah, a 567 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: legitimate reason for being afraid. Also, um, they were kind 568 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 1: of tomatoes were kind of poorly classified or unfortunately classified. Yeah, 569 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: correctly classified but as a night shade, which is a 570 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: type of poisonous plant in some cases. Yes. Uh. And 571 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: from that, yes, um, they were called um lego persicons. 572 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: That's how they were classified, which translates the Greek word 573 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,959 Speaker 1: is wolf peach. Right. And part of the reason they 574 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: were called that is because they were in the night 575 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: shaded family and related to wolf spane, which people thought 576 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: at the time could summon were wolves. Oh nice, So 577 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: you got to talk about were wolves. That's pretty cool. Yeah, 578 00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: that's so exciting. Yeah, as a love of the title 579 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: of episode, right, it was you say, Tomato, I say, 580 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: and wolf spaine in nightshade do have hallucinogenic qualities. So 581 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: so it's easy to see where people might think that 582 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,400 Speaker 1: where wolves are involved, if they're hanging out around too 583 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: much wolf spain. Right. But that is really interesting to 584 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: imagine that that those that had much less money wouldn't 585 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: have thought of them as as being poisonous because they 586 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,240 Speaker 1: wouldn't have had that introduction of yeah, so the fancy 587 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: pewter plates, and they wouldn't have gotten that taxonomy lesson. 588 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, rich people would keep them on their 589 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: tables as like ornaments, as like goth table decoration, like 590 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: they thought that they were poisonous and they would have 591 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: them as these table centerpieces. Yeah, well, very cool. That 592 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: that made us think we should have you guys on 593 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: the show. We've been wanting to have you here anyway, 594 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: so it was a good excuse to get you here 595 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: to play this very very important quiz. What quiz are 596 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: we going to have these guys play today? Super important? 597 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: It's called real name of a mushroom or a band 598 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: that's playing south By Southwest this year, so they're the 599 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: south By Connection again. So there are tons of names 600 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: of mushrooms that are really quirking strange, like scurfy twiglet 601 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: and fingered candle snuff names of actual mushrooms. Does that 602 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: make you hungry? Yeah, so we thought it'd be fun 603 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: to have you come on and work together. We're gonna 604 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: have you work together because your teammates too. I can 605 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: see how you do in a five question quiz. Okay, 606 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: number one, Potato earth Ball. Is this a real mushroom 607 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: or the name of a band playing at south By 608 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: Southwest this year? Potato earth Since since it's got the 609 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: earth element to it, I would say I would say 610 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: it's an actual mushroom. I agree. Yeah, Wow, these guys 611 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: are good, right. It's a holy puffball mushroom? Is that 612 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: from a description? The sexy shape of potatoes? Sees there? 613 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 1: One for one? Number two snake tongue truffle club that 614 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: sounds like a bar option. Um, I think I think 615 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:12,719 Speaker 1: drinking was involved in that one, though, So I'm going 616 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: to go with band. Do you would you agree? Yeah? 617 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: I think that's a band. I'm glad we stumped him 618 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: on at least one. Well, it was named in the UK, 619 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: so there might have been some drinking in It actually 620 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: looks like a big snake tongue sticking out of the ground. 621 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: Number three a yucky duster, yucky duster, and he's making 622 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: the most amazing face right now. I'm going to say 623 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: that either if it is a band, it's also poisonous. 624 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with mushroom. Oh wow, we got him again. Dang, 625 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,000 Speaker 1: it's a band. It's a four person band that sounds 626 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: completely different depending on which member wrote the song. Oh 627 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: all right, here we go. You still have as for 628 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: the big Price. Number four pancake Crust. We're trying so 629 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: hard to not just like snort after every name we're hearing. Yeah, 630 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: oh goodness. I mean that could certainly describe the skin 631 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: on the top of I mean, I feel like I've 632 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: seen that thing before. Well, I'll trust your judgment on 633 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: that one. It's a real funny say infects a stone 634 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,719 Speaker 1: fruit trees. Nicely done. Okay, this is the big one 635 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: for the big prize. Number five, Delicate Steve, Delicate Steve 636 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: mushroom or a banded south By Well, delicate Steve certainly 637 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: sounds like a band that I I've seen four It 638 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: sounds like some band members that I think many different Steves. 639 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: They're all delicate. They're all delicate. Sorry about its Steve's 640 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: So they're going with band? What do you think? You're right? 641 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: It's a band from New Jersey, which shouldn't be confused 642 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: with a slow Steve. A band from Berlin that's also 643 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: playing out going there, oh man. So, so how did 644 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: they do today? Mango? They did so great, we're gonna 645 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: give him a prize. So today they're going home with 646 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: there's an actual prize of Rockabye, Baby Lullabye renditions of 647 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: justin timber Lakes justin timber Lake c D. I had 648 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: on my desk, oh Man, it's the only one. Good 649 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: luck finding a place to play a CD. Yeah, I 650 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: have to fight over this. Yeah, definitely, that's all right. Well, 651 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: I hope all our listeners will check out food Stuff. 652 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,120 Speaker 1: It's a terrific show. Lauren and Annie, thanks so much 653 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: for joining us. Oh, thank you guys so much. Thank 654 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: you for having us so mago. We were just about 655 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: to talk about some of the liars and the sexpots 656 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 1: and you know, the plants your mother definitely doesn't want 657 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,040 Speaker 1: you hanging out with. So who's your favorite liar in 658 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: the mix? Yeah, there's definitely some crafty greenery out there, 659 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: just spinning lies and trying to get their seed into 660 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: the wild. But I think my favorite ones are the 661 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: ones that trick insects. So there's an orchid that's apparently 662 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,320 Speaker 1: so sexy that wasts tried to mate with it, and 663 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:18,279 Speaker 1: it isn't just romance. It's like aggressive wasp sex, and 664 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: the dumb male wasps gets so excited they get covered 665 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: in pollen and then move on to another orchid, spreading 666 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: the pollen along the way. But the best and weirdest 667 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 1: part is that the orchids are so good at their 668 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: deception that male wasps actually prefer the flowers to females, 669 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: and sometimes they'll leave a female wasp mid population because 670 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: the flower seems that much more appealing. So I don't 671 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 1: think you said, what what it's called. What's it called? Yeah, 672 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 1: it's called the tongue orchid, which is which is gross. 673 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,880 Speaker 1: And wow, that's a good one, all right, So what 674 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: else you got, Well, this one's hilarious. While impersonating an 675 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: insect is one thing, impersonating a piece of dung is 676 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 1: a totally different level. But that's what the restiness say. 677 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:56,960 Speaker 1: I don't think I'm pronouncing that right, But it's from 678 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: South Africa and it does this when it drops seeds 679 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 1: that look suspiciously like antelope dung on the ground. Wow, 680 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,360 Speaker 1: So they just are they marking their territory. It's so 681 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,280 Speaker 1: much more than that. So basically, the seeds attract dung beetles, 682 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 1: which just saunter up the seed and roll it around. 683 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: And when they decided to burrow into it, instead of 684 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: getting a delicious treat, they discovered that they've been tricked 685 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,359 Speaker 1: into planning a seed in the ground. All right, that's 686 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,359 Speaker 1: pretty genius. But that's a common survival strategy, right, Well, 687 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 1: I mean it's common enough that has a name. It's 688 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: called fecal mimoric carrey. Alright, so we probably need to 689 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: wrap this up it. How about you send us off 690 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 1: with one last plant that baffled you. Yeah, so I 691 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 1: think I have just the one. So here's one that 692 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: mother definitely wouldn't approve of, which scientists are just completely 693 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 1: delighted by. It's an orchid called the halka glossom amasanium, 694 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,439 Speaker 1: which is this bisexual flower. Well this sounds juicy, okay, 695 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 1: go on, Yeah, so basically the plant works against gravity 696 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: to pollinate itself. But let me just quote new scientists 697 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,239 Speaker 1: because they do a way better job of explaining it. 698 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: Although many plants self fertilize, a rare orchid that grows 699 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,880 Speaker 1: on tree trunks in China takes the process to hitherto 700 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: unknown heights through a gymnastic feat never seen before in plants. 701 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: It bends its pollen containing male another round through a 702 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 1: full circle before jabbing it into the female stigma to 703 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,720 Speaker 1: complete fertilization at sixty days. The act takes even longer 704 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: than tantric sex. This basically flower point. I kind of 705 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 1: feel dirty listening to that. I mean, what's crazy is 706 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 1: that the plant can basically self pollinate without any of 707 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: the standard means insects when gravity, rain, none of that. 708 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: It's kind of insane that it does it all on 709 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: its own. But you know one thing we could never 710 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: do on our own, I do the part time genius 711 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: fact off. Yeah, let's go for it. M R. Did 712 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,200 Speaker 1: you know that you don't need those little flower chemical 713 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,320 Speaker 1: packets to make your flowers perk up? A little viagora 714 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 1: will make the flower stems straighten up fast. According to 715 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: Business Insider, auguste, teen seventy seven set the record for 716 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,919 Speaker 1: the most flowers sold in the US on a single day. 717 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: What happened? It was the day after Elvis passed away. 718 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: Oh that's crazy, all right? What did you know that 719 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: venus fly traps amid a fluorescent blue light to attract bugs. Also, 720 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,360 Speaker 1: they're the official state carnivorous plan of North Carolina? I mean, 721 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 1: what else is North Carolina going to give it to? 722 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:23,040 Speaker 1: Speaking of carnivorous plants, did you know figs aren't considered vegetarian. 723 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,360 Speaker 1: Figs are pollinated by wasps and then the flower captures 724 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,280 Speaker 1: and traps them. So there's wasps that's been coughton digested 725 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,600 Speaker 1: in most figs eat, which is funny to think that 726 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,960 Speaker 1: figs aren't vegetarian while oysters might be. I mean, according 727 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,319 Speaker 1: to some vegans and vegetarians at least, it's because they 728 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 1: don't experience pain. But that's not my fact. That's not 729 00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: the fact. Did you know that plants can hear water? 730 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: I thought I thought that was just like an old 731 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: wives tale. I used to think that too, but scientific 732 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,920 Speaker 1: American and a professor from Australia proved me wrong. Was 733 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:54,480 Speaker 1: Professor Monica Gagliano, and she devised an experiment with pea 734 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,920 Speaker 1: seedlings where plants inch their way towards pipes, and she 735 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: theorized that while the plants later followed moisture grades, they 736 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: were initially drawn to the water sources by sound waves 737 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: from inside the pipes. That's amazing. So I'm gonna have 738 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,400 Speaker 1: to let you take home the trophy today. Thanks, and 739 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:11,760 Speaker 1: I think that's it for today's episode of Part Time Genius. 740 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. Thanks again for listening. Part 741 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,520 Speaker 1: Time Genius is a production of how stuff works and 742 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do the 743 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,080 Speaker 1: important things. We couldn't even begin to understand Chris and 744 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,759 Speaker 1: McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme 745 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: song and does the MIXI mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland 746 00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: does the exact producer thing. Gay Bluesier is our lead researcher, 747 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,040 Speaker 1: with support from the Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan 748 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,279 Speaker 1: Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve. Jeff Coo gets the 749 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like 750 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,400 Speaker 1: what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you 751 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 1: really really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave 752 00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,479 Speaker 1: a good review for us. Do we do? We forget 753 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:03,480 Speaker 1: Jason Jason who did the difficult differ