Carnivorous Epiphytes and Balsawood Trees

In this episode we slowly ascend through a lush lowland forest up to a neotropical cloud forest at 5,000 ft. We encounter a variety of strange plants along the way including the Balsawood Tree, a velvet-leaf endemic Magnolia (pallescens), a bizarre tree in the Ginseng Family (Araliaceae), quite a few orchids and an even more bizarre member of the blueberry family (#Gonocalyx tetrapterus). The highlight of the video is the rare and endemic carnivorous plant #Pinguicula casabitoana, which is threatened by poaching and forest clearance. Unlike most other members of its genus, this Pinguicula grows high in the canopy of other trees in this ultra-moist, mossy cloud forest. It is an epiphytic carnivore, trapping small gnats and flies on its narrow,thin leaf blades in order to supplement its nitrogen.
Your contributions support this content. It sounds clichéd, but it's true. Whether it's travel expenses, vehicle repair, or medical costs for urushiol poisoning (or rockfalls, beestings, hand slices, toxic sap, etc), your financial support allows this content to continue so the beauty of Earth's flora can be made accessible to the rest of us in the degenerate public. At a time when so much is disappearing beneath the human footprint, CPBBD is willing to do whatever it takes to document these plant species and the ecological communities they are a part of before they're gone for good.
Plants make people feel good. Plants quell homicidal (and suicidal!) thoughts. To support Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't, consider donating a few bucks to the venmo account "societyishell" or the PayPal account email [e-mail]...
Or consider becoming a patreon supporter @ :
/ crimepaysbutbotanydoesnt
Buy some CPBBD merch (shirts, hats, hoodies n' what the shit) available for sale at :
www.bonfire.co...
To purchase stickers, venmo twelve bucks to "societyishell" and leave your address in the comments.
Plants ID questions or reading list suggestions can be sent to [e-mail]
Thanks, GFY.

[@samrooney6905]

As much as @crimepaysbutbotanydoesn't touches and fingers flowers and plants he should be technically classified as a pollinator at this point

[@kamikaze2613]

He’s probably accidentally made hybrids of insane species from around the world the amount he seems to get around

[@Dude_Diligence]

The shit you put yourself through for us dude. We love you, but damn.

[@nicolasflamel8969]

Ah, the sacrifices this man makes to bring us quality content.

[@autodidactic]

you're still handsome, homie, thanks for bringing us the REAL botany

[@viagra5207]

no homo

[@brianc385]

@@viagra5207 maybe a little

[@flimflam6652]

@@viagra5207 Fuck that, kiss a homie.

[@chroniccare409]

@@flimflam6652 awe

[@dinofearme1]

@@brianc385 ha yea wasn’t expecting him to be so young. I watch these videos and this is the first time I’ve seen his face. Hubba hubba

[@TheLeon1032]

man this channel really sorts my shit out sometimes, feels like home or something, hey from england

[@TheStumped19]

Cops been busting my shit up. Thanks for lifting my spirits. Your the only person I can watch to learn scientific names without falling asleep,

[@evilsharkey8954]

Sometimes I fall asleep, but only when I’m staying up waaay too late watching these.

[@catfission]

ACAB homie, those pigs can stick it.

[@flimflam6652]

@@catfission ACAB until shit changes or I die.

[@Wilson_the_Mannequin]

@@catfission Antifa Communists Are Braindead

[@catfission]

@@Wilson_the_Mannequin lol

[@jeanettecooper1582]

If I could afford to travel I would be wandering around checking out the plants and rocks . Thank you for the armchair vacations and for answering so many of the questions I would have if I was there myself .

[@chrisbriden]

Thanks man for your videos. I had a heart attack last month and had bypass surgery. During my recovery I had your videos on while I walked back and forth in my apartment. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to hike again but, until then, I'll be watching your videos. Sorry for being so fucking cheesy.

[@science_and_anonymous]

Best thing ever to watch with a 102° fever! Let's beat this with plant education!

[@thesilentone4024]

Ha mine 99 and my throat hurts thats it I can eat and drink like normal but got a sore throat lol

[@AGDinCA]

Oh no! COVID? Whatever it is, I hope you get well soon!

[@AGDinCA]

@@thesilentone4024 Oh, and you, too? COVID? I hope not. Regardless, I hope you get better quickly!

[@integralboy]

☺️🔋☺️☺️

[@smellycat249]

Work is the best thing to break a fever. So get to it.

[@wyattlulei6082]

You honestly sound like a master of a trade, botany and plant genetics, I wish more people like you existed, so people like me could still have the potential to learn under a master of a trade, I love your channel, I really hope I can get to your level of mastery one day

[@angelaengler2387]

If you truly wish for that knowledge work hard to attain it, you could be awesome like Tony!

[@ysf-psfx]

Also of dogs. Watching that little black and white one act mad and pretend he wasn't in love with Tony was hilarious.

[@LauraCourtneyette]

Been there - in the eye too. No fun. Walked around muttering ‘I am not an animal’ for a week. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[@stephenpmurphy591]

Excellent Elephant man reference!

[@Baal_yeet]

Your crass botany warms my profane horticultural heart.

[@JakeSmith-ps4vr]

I don't think I've ever laughed harder. Tony deserves an emme for that intro!!!😂

[@The_Crucible714]

And his description of the forest; “everything’s just danglin’ an drippin’…!” 😮 😂

[@MrBalaki97]

I love these videos you make me happy when you show your enthusiasm and botany videos with a hint of mafia

[@marinakukso]

we've got loads of those same dicranopteris ferns here on hawai'i island. they are called uluhe here. at first i thought they were smothering everything, but actually they make great leaf litter under themselves, provide shady areas underneath for young ohi'a & other plants, & keep weeds & other invasives from popping up. so now i love them! ^-^

[@alonzodiazrosario1867]

Your are in my country, thanks for coming

[@flimflam6652]

"Did you get something out of that, did you have a nice time?" Oh HELL yeah I did. Thank you so much, all these are so beautiful. Especially those Melastomataceae. Their leaves' venation and red stems are beyond gorgeous!

[@katiekane5247]

My man, I so feel ya! One time, I had this vicious burn start inside my left elbow. Took benedryl shot etc. Took me a few days to realize I had carried a wooden shovel handle in the crook of my arm & it had laid in poison ivy. Your sacrifice for our enjoyment is appreciated!

[@boomerhooked8115]

What this man does for us to learn all this wonderful plant botany

[@SamCooler]

this is so beautiful, I would love if it were in 4K, so I could freeze-frame and really study the shapes. Thank you for bringing us this content!

[@lulumoon6942]

✌️❤️ Tony, you are a rare honest, precious asset to this world. Thank you for sharing your time, talent, and curiosity. I have no doubt you have expanded minds and healed hearts. 🙏🌈

[@bobsiddoway]

Gnarly, man! Plant rocked ya’!

[@Nobody-cw4wm]

What a trooper.... A1 mate. Takes one for the team!

[@HLBear]

Favorite, the lichen that looks like an anemone. Wow, that was cool. Runner-up: the scaley fern. Just gorgeous. Thanks for taking us along.

[@DISTR4CK]

Those botany tattoos are the coolest tattoos.

[@audreyfrye929]

I just have to take a moment to tell you , I thoroughly enjoy your videos. You are the best!

[@michaelr5545]

You make nerding out on plants so much more fun! You got me cracking up over here !

[@BeardedWorm]

First video from your channel I see. I love everything about this! The name of the channel, your sense of humor and that accent :)). And most of all, the information. I wish I'll someday find my way to a cloud forest 😍

[@damonroberts7372]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Edit: love your _Sequoiadendron_ tattoo!

[@noahdacheese839]

Your energy is infectious, and I love how incredibly knowledgeable you are. It feels like every plant you see you know, as unassuming as you are. It's wonderful. I've found a gem of a channel man, keep on keeping on

[@AlejandraGarcia-yb8bj]

Oh no!! Here’s to a speedy recovery!

[@rolanddane5015]

Thanks for another good video, and the conversation with the dogs at the end of the video was key. It increased overall information retention levels by 40%, easy! Respect 👊

[@gafrers]

Wish you a speedy recovery

[@pamappleby1400]

This was a banger- love the cloud forest.

[@KarmaCadet]

I always feel better after watching your hikes. Being stuck in a tiny room for months on end kinda drains the soul, but watching these videos is like a breath of fresh air. Beautiful video!

[@mynamejeff3545]

Damn, man, that must hurt. A grim reminder to all botanists that one day, our habits of touching, smelling or eating random plants might catch up to us. I once made the mistake of eating crack-in-the-pavement-lettuce, and the results were not pretty. Happens to the best of us. Get well soon!

[@michelleroxy21]

Your personality, appreciation, and knowledge of plants makes me feel a certain type of way. 😏 Even with one eye swollen shut and a missing crown I’m still swooning. Wish more guys had your heart for the simple things 🥰🪴 if you ever end up in wisconsin/Michigan we should go for a hike. Different terrain, so much I could learn from you. No innuendo intended.. but also not-not intended, if ya know what I mean. 🙃😝😬🥵

[@lpg3va]

i LOVE watching these chill walks in the forests. Reminds me of walks with my friends

[@AxialTangent]

Thank you so much for all your excruciating your field work I love every single video you make more than anything else on youtube

[@jacobpaulsen9540]

As a first video to see, seeing a guy who looks like a boxer with a missing tooth and a swollen eye, talking about botany in a heavy Chicago accent, you have got my sub

[@Yournamehere366]

I fucking love this guy!! Where have you been all my life?? Love the content, hope the swelling subsides quickly. Thanks for being awesome!

[@Takokujin07]

Holy shit it’s the country I was born in! I miss it, I wanna go visit again. I loved this video, you’re so entertaining and silly and informative!

[@herbbirdsfoot]

I’ve seen a lot of pinguicula but that’s an uncommon one for sure. The UC Berkeley Bot Garden has some nice pings for sale at the moment PLUS it’s a bangin’ time of year for the bulbs on the South African hill and the rhodies. Check it out! It was carns and the spring blooms at the Bot Garden that turned me into the plant freak that I am today.

[@speaklifegardenhomesteadpe8783]

Heard a car alarm.. Oh nope that's out MY window... 🤣Adds to the atmosphere 🙄🦋

[@chooton5113]

Brother I am in awe your knowledge!

[@The_Crucible714]

*BIG brain* 🙌🧠

[@sazji]

This was an amazing episode, and how exciting to see P. casabitoana in habitat. Too bad it’s not an easier one to cultivate; if it were it would soon be all over and there would be little motive to poach them.

[@TheMegaPear]

Your videos are educational antidepressants

[@element4studios]

Came for the plants, stuck around and got doggoes. 100% quality content! Ya got the Popeye look going on with that eye situation there. Hang in there man!

[@Autumn-hu9sx]

Shit!! I didn't read the screen at the beginning so when I first saw you I thought someone must've decked you 😭😂 "You oughta see the other guy" except the 'other guy' is a plant and some floss lol! Hey, eye swollen and a missing tooth and still way too fuckin handsome. Cheers

[@truvelocity]

I learned so many new things today. Thank you for doing what you do.

[@cartilagehead]

I blinded myself in one eye for a week like that maybe two months ago being sloppy with euphorbia repotting. I had to phone in to all of my zoom meetings because I looked completely awful, and I couldn’t even look at a screen without a dark eyepatch on

[@jhiggs4933]

Lol. Ive got a crown to get glued back in. Damn flossing pulled it out

[@江城银]

Digging that shoulder tattoo!

[@tuffymartinez]

Just want to say THANK YOU!!!!!!.....I watch, I try to understand, I try to absorb all the fascinating info you continually present....Soooo I watch again and mouth the words hoping I will remember....This is a continual effort of watching, rewinding, repeating....My old fu&$ing brain is doing pretty good for what it is...I shall continue to practice....Again thank you for all you do.....TM

[@nancynickerson4341]

Imagine what the early botanical explorers must have encountered. They wouldn't have known about the local occupational hazards!

[@questartstudio9526]

this shit came on at midnight and i fucking stayed up to watch the damn thing despite work in the morning and i saved the fucking video so i could watch more when i got back. you know your shit and you fucking get it. i cant wait to watch these videos while I'm painting too. keep em coming

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

100% Truth. As a youth in the late 60's, early 70's I would mow yards and do whatever yard cleanup needed (Pre-string trimmers), for extra money in the summer. That's when I discovered I had a Super Power which increased my income 3 fold. I found I could literally wallow in Poison Ivy without any ill effect (a very few water blisters here and there). Lived in an area prevalent with Poison Ivy usually in fence rows, word got around that I was good at clearing out this stuff.

[@patricksweetman3285]

For the umpteenth time, Tony, I wished that your show was in stereo. In virtual reality. With smell-o-vision. But you can keep the heat and humidity.

[@peterinbrat]

I knew a guy who got pencil tree sap on his hand then rubbed his eyes. Swelled up for three days. The island has all kinds of dangerous plants and trees. And the wasps are aggressive.

[@Dockhead]

@@haseo8244 too bad its nat the euphoria family ama right?

[@michaelsage6649]

Keeping me sane you SOB. Gratitude.

[@marvindcat]

I’m SO in love with this guy’s voice!!!

[@arthurlouis8326]

I 'm glad you went to my island. I get to see a lot of plants I used to walk by during my childhood

[@aacallison1535]

You're not afraid. You are the Tony Joey Botanist. Young boys and girls wanna grow up and become botanists.

[@weatheranddarkness]

that lichen is one of the coolest things I've seen! 18:40

[@Ok-vj3dw]

love the extra realness in this one

[@charonsiouxsie949]

Thank you for a safe place in the nature that's left

[@blackpepperboy]

After this pandemic, hope we could see you explore philippine forest especially the pygmy "bonzai" forest of davao philippines. 😎 you're so cool and very informative!

[@RenzitoARG]

I just spent 1 hour of my time watching a dude describing plants I'll never see in my life, because they are endogenous. And now I'm subscribing, waiting for the next one. I loved that content.

[@carniflor]

Mesmerizing channel! Really love the P. casabotiana for this episode.

[@belindarosenheim2322]

Having a nice time. Thanks🤗

[@AZ-74]

thanks for entertaining us with your educational content and get well soon

[@jjrichards1099]

i did have a nice time watching! coincidentally i started reading up on - and getting obsessed with - cloud forests right before you started showing them 'round so i thoroughly enjoyed the botany, and your usual misanthropic ramblings and misery with that rash gave me a hearty chuckle (hope you don't take offense with that). good vid, plant man.

[@brandondishman3955]

Why don't you have your own show? Holy Moly how entertaining and educational.

[@patrickgarner]

I laughed on and off the whole way through your video. You had me at plants smelling good like the lotions sold by Etsy witches. I know nothing about botany but you make it interesting. This channel is a hidden gem. "I love you you fuck." Stay beautiful.

[@thehiddenshaman4371]

I am so inspired to continue my creeping around the mountains I live in. Life is bleak but the beauty is unmatched! Much love!

[@nikkitronic80]

GEOLOGY TOO?!?!!!! I love this man ❤️🌱❤️🌱❤️

[@ROKASniper89]

As many have stated before. We greatly appreciate what you do. Please take care of yourself out there. Took your advice and killed my lawn. Letting nature do its thing

[@cgriggsiv]

I'm sorry dude that you're having a rough time right now when it rains it pours and a lot of times life will s*** on your head or take a piss on it whatever hell it wants Love your KZbin take it easy and happy Easter to you and get well soon with all that crap that's going on

[@davidbarts6144]

Anacardiaceae is one of my favorite plant families, just because of its Jekyll/Hyde nature. Both plants that are edible, and plants that give you a nasty rash. (And some are one and the same, like cashews.)

[@austindelorenzo4486]

I had a good time watching this on my night audit :)

[@HumanFellaPerson]

You're such a rad dude! Love all your content! Thank you!

[@rickberry5740]

Don't know the last time I had so much fun with just another dude;)

[@pierre-alexandreclement7831]

❤❤❤❤ for the painfull work you have done for us

[@MsVan13]

I love how you say things. Stream of consciousness. Keep teaching us. Thank you.

[@The_Crucible714]

“Erudite turrets”

[@natepenn9112]

I got urushiol in my left eye once as well! It swelled shut for three days and I looked like sloth from the goonies. Some of the concentrated urushiol beaded up on my arm and left a scar as well. I feel your pain and thanks for your suffering to bring us those money shots.

[@THELITTLERIVERNERD]

Ah man, you keep mentioning my home town of Mendocino and I'd love to see you do a video there!

[@OrionsMako]

One of your better episodes. Stay positive....hahaha!

[@alexgeyer2305]

absolutely love adding in the geography/tectonics tid bits

[@bullhunter45]

Live in Costa Rica and this is very informative!! Thanks

[@danlehman1895]

my favorite video you've made so far

[@saml7610]

Tony, you're gorgeous, even with that horrific swollen eyeball. Look at the bright side, at least you're not crying blood! Also, for what it's worth, some dogs can get seriously fucked up from avocados. I think it's an anti-fungal substance called persin that does them dirty, and you can't know from lookin' at em. I had a friend who lost his dog to an adverse avocado reaction, it was a Shiba Inu. It's still 99% safe, but I'd start em with a small piece and go from there. The reaction is pretty quick. The real problems come from them eating the pits or the skins - a lot more persin in those parts. The flesh should be safe for anything other than tiny rat dogs.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Yeah I just gave em some on a cracker cause it was all I had. Most of the persin is in the leaves and skin. Thanks for the heads up though.

[@saml7610]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt Yeah I figured you'd know, I was more posting for the benefit of others perusing the comments. That cladonia is fucking awesome, by the way, coolest looking cladonia I've ever seen, verging on reindeer lichen territory of coolness. I can't find the species in any of my keys, and I have one for the Caribbean!

[@salamilid7615]

Never have I heard someone say they're glad to have been stung by a wasp

[@selgoops]

'Malvaceous Bastard' is easily my favorite phrase, and I need it on a sticker/shirt/hat/panties you name it

[@bambamlover]

This video just popped into my feed and oh boy was it worth the click. lol. Your commentary was "mua" lol

[@Matlockization]

I'M IMPRESSED WITH WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH YOURSELF. THAT CARNIVOROUS PLANT WOULD WORK WELL IN THE BATHROOM.

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

We got some spots here in the pacific northwest that get the rain and you see the little fern gardens along the road. Real nice. You get the weathered basalt too. Red and crumbly.

[@ohmyblindman]

Now would have been a good time for a tattoo tour of your body, along with the corresponding stories. Someday.

[@Montino4Ever]

For a guy with good narration you know he could explain the shit outa those tattoos

[@jessecronnolly7781]

I agreeeee

[@stickfinderz]

"ya gotta crack a couple eggs" 😂 love the spirit

[@rnedisc]

Few videos ago I was actually thinking, the way he's touching everything it's a matter of time before he starts grabbing hand fulls of random Urticaceaes or hogweeds or something. Be careful!

[@fredericapanon207]

Especially with the hogweed. That stuff is much nastier than urushiol. It remains in the skin for a long time and makes you allergic to sunlight, leading to blisters.

[@hazel555]

I only found your channel recently and LOVE you with your big personality...in a botanical way. Please consider including the plants of Northeastern Wisconsin if you ever get up this way.