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