International Scientists Study Rare Parasitic Plant at Grootbos

Grootbos Foundation's Friday update begins with a life science update. Professor Aleksei Oskolski from the University of Johannesburg and Alexander Zavialov, a PhD candidate from Moscow State University visited Grootbos this week to collect samples of the parasitic plant bloodcob, Mystropetalon thomii. Their interest in the plants is how they have evolved to lose all their plastids (food synthesis and storage organelles), the anatomy of their underground organs as well as their reproductive biology and seed dispersal mechanisms. Plants are fascinating!