The Coolest Carnivorous Plant You've Never Heard Of

[@Deathhawkdown]

This lad got me, a hardened railroader, into botanical photography.

[@AFMR0420]

Send me one.

[@ferretyluv]

What a coincidence. He used to hop trains as a hobo.

[@BB-uo1qy]

That's weird, I also work railroad (probably not as hard tho lol)

[@mclovin8739]

That's strange, I have taken photos of trains, and I'm not hard at all.

[@Deathhawkdown]

@@mclovin8739 We call y'all Foamers

[@yankeebotanist4699]

As a fellow botanist, this is why we love plants, every little bitty silly hidden plant is just so beautiful, and really just shows you how stunning this world actually is.

[@tigertoxins584]

beautifully put there chum

[@yankeebotanist4699]

@@tigertoxins584 Thank you!!

[@TheFalseProdigy]

These are wildly interesting, I’d never expect a plant to make its leaves under the sand, even wilder that it’s carnivorous

[@JediMentat]

Same. This guy's excitement made me interested in something I've never given a thought to

[@AsymptoteInverse]

@@JediMentat Likewise. Subsurface leaves alone are pretty wild, and his enthusiasm makes it even better.

[@dsultanum]

Watching your videos in the past, i remember thinking how i wished someone would do this content with my local flora and now here you are. Thank you

[@AdlerDanEgoe]

>come to Brrrazzzillllll!

[@geekdivaherself]

And hear how excited he sounds! Congratulations!🎉

[@geekdivaherself]

By the way, this is the first of his videos that I've ever seen, and I clicked on it by accident! How fortuitous!

[@StuffandThings_]

Have you ever considered checking out the extremely unusual tropics in Sao Paulo? Its essentially an equatorial climate with no hurricanes (the only one ever recorded in southern Brazil didn't hit that area) or major storms, small temperature swings, and consistently high precipitation, yet it stretches south of even the tropic of Capricorn. I've wondered for a while what strange plants might have adapted to this unique high latitude equatorial climate, much of it is protected and there's even quite a bit of cloud forest. Plus the Atlantic rainforest is always interesting.

[@sagetmaster4]

Whoa carnivorous in Plantaginaceae? That wouldn't have been my first guess That is some of the most wild habitat I've ever seen. And it eats NEMATODES?! Great episode

[@Erewhon2024]

Florida has many areas of white sand and nematode infestation. Am guessing the plant parasites (southern rootknot etc) probably are less likely to be ensnared, but I still want seeds...

[@thetobyntr9540]

​@@Erewhon2024 I'm a Floridian too but in Oklahoma now, same situation with root knot nematodes. Orange Marigolds I heard work, another thing is the jugoline in walnut leaves and that's easy to find but they're also toxic to certain plans like tomatoes, something funny though is canibus really doesn't seem to care. I heard earthworm activity or poop keeps them at bay and that seems to work when the plant doesn't get an infection from having nematode infested roots first. Oak leaf mulching may help because they're easy to find in Florida and they're going to be a little toxic to things that don't eat them so maybe nematodes too, but they're good for earthworms.

[@snuugumz]

‘…..oooh, won’t you man-handle my Plantaginaceae? I promise not to get as loud as when you draped me in that shroud And probed it like your time was running out-tinaceae…’ An example illustrating why songwriting was never an art i should have pursued. Kill Your Lawns, Y’all! Love ya, Joey!😎❤️

[@talescarpinete9033]

Seeing this man's genuine happiness over disco cactus and all the other plants is just so wholesome... Good work, keep up with this amazing divulgation of the beautiful world of botany! Cheers from the land you are/were in, Brazil!!

[@Outwhere]

The cerrado is very cool: my favorite habitat in Brazil. There are some savanna areas in the Amazon which were a surprise: full of flowers in July. Getting to them (driving through miles and miles of destroyed forest) is depressing though. Seeing those savannas getting converted into cattle ranches doesn't help either.

[@Dan-DJCc]

Thanks Tony. You are a force for good in the world.

[@thartwig]

it is wild, unless you dug it up, youd never know it was the same plant, or that the flowering stock even had leaves.

[@Tybold63]

Those Philcoxia blew my mind rarely seen such awesome plant!

[@jfu5222]

I'm super happy for you Tony. Seeing your excitement for the flora in this incredible habitat was hilariously educational.

[@timjozwiak2293]

Holy crap !! Those plants are crazy! A whole different world. Thanks for sharing...

[@richardperry9165]

Hey he went to Brazil! Hope Portuguese isn’t too hard on you. I remember when I lived in the South East of the country seeing swathes of Atlantic forest cleared for eucalyptus plantations. It was a big bummer and we called them Green Deserts. Ironic considering deserts are much more diverse and interesting than rows of non native trees

[@fungifactory8925]

Why would people be farming eucalyptus? Is it for one of the terpenes or something or the wood?

[@richardperry9165]

It’s for paper production mostly. Eucalyptus grows super fast, and although the wood is pretty good, it’s extremely good for paper pulp

[@tsawy6]

@@fungifactory8925 Very fast growing wood, good for growing in arid conditions

[@StuffandThings_]

@@richardperry9165 Huh, I'm surprised they aren't using Pinus radiata like in NZ and much of the US for paper pulp. Maybe too intolerant of constant heat? But its known for being extremely quick growing and drought tolerant, and probably a tad less fire prone than Eucalyptus.

[@lemalame]

@@StuffandThings_ There is also a part of the demand for its oil. With eucalyptus you get the wood, the leaves and the oils, which can be used for fragrances, for medicine also I believe, and some other holistic and more consumerist products. So around the area where I live (North of Minas Gerais) almost every single place you go to will have several eucalyptus forests. It's kinda upsetting, but hey, it's the business.

[@LukeMcGuireoides]

What a bizarre environment. I'm stoked you're doing Brazil content, as they say. I must admit, I was hoping you would go discover some new endemic aroids in those places the aroid wizard was telling us about. That was mainly in Colombia, iirc. I don't care where you are, tbh, even in metro Chicago, the content is based, as the kids say.

[@LukeMcGuireoides]

Based, dope, AND lit.

[@NirvaExe]

4:52 Yes, we do get quite a bit of precipitation during summer over here. August-September are usually the driest months, then in October it starts raining and that lasts more or less until April :)

[@wrijin]

Wow - this is an awesome genus! I had no idea this existed, and have done a lot of hobby-level growing of carnivorous plants. The flowers looked so similar to Utricularia. Great vid, as always.

[@shadeelocc]

Dude your consistent honest enthusiasm in nature/plants is admirable.

[@Joseph843]

I commented on your other new video but I wanted to say again. Your videos make me happy. I have autism and anxiety and watching them calms me down. Thanks for being you :)

[@winddealer1]

Continually Incredibly educational, entertaining, and inspirational. You make it happen.

[@MrEiht]

It is a bit cheating because nature has so much cool stuff to show.

[@katiekane5247]

​@@MrEihtyeah but no one makes it as much fun as our boi.

[@MrEiht]

@@katiekane5247 true words, queen.

[@vwvw4]

Hmmm, I'd be concerned inhaling spores from the dead cacti, if they perhaps had fungi killing them (based on your mushroom smell reference)? So appreciate your vlogs and the excitement you share with your love of botany. The carnivorous plants were especially intriguing.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

More likely to be bacteria causing the smell.

[@freerun_dragon]

You never fail to deliver, bringing education in the form of examining the sheer diversity and unique adaptations that make the plant kingdom so incredible. Your silver tounge is cherry on top, thanks for everything you do! 🔥

[@ross1972]

That Philcoxia is so cool and its flowers look just like Utricularia and the comanthera rosettes are amazing too but once you add the flowers it looks like something from another planet.

[@nhaaaPl]

You're right, I never heard of this plant before. Interesting leaves too.

[@wormprint542]

man I really appreciate this style of botany video, so many videos are super scientific and upright and whatever but it's great to get a video about a topic I'm interested in by someone who talks like me lmao. keep it up man!!

[@Billy-xl4sv]

FANTASTIC VIDEO! LOVE THE LOW GROUND ANGLE, THE TRANSLUCENT SAND

[@troyclayton]

Great video. The Philcoxia habit strikes me as similar to bladderworts, just in sand instead of water. Just a stem poking up with a few flowers, while the leaves/traps spread out through the growth medium. Too bad you didn't have a straw to air excavate a bit better without messing with the plants.

[@HD-xk3km]

My favorite video so far on the best and most important YT channel there is. Thanks for revealing so many layers of beauty in this plant community. Nematodes are everywhere, and this video made me wonder why there aren't more nematode-trapping plants... or, why it was able to evolve here but not a lot of other places. Thanks as always for your incredible work.

[@imperato777]

Thank you sir. The genus epithet honors David Philcox (1926-2003), a botanist at Kew Gardens who worked extensively in tropical Scrophulariaceae.

[@MBroam]

Yay, the Brazil series begins!

[@mcliloldbigyoung]

You are one of the coolest humans to ever grace this earth, thank you for everything, super heroes do exist

[@danielpirone8028]

Fantastic video. Life finds a way.

[@charlesdeuter]

Wow, that's crazy, I thought the nepenthes that buries it pitchers underground had a wild growth habit! Great to see this in habitat!

[@BlunderfulGuy]

Such a surreal environment. I wonder if the different types of sand shifting around throughout the season affect how and when these plants grow, bloom, and go dormant. Or just how deep the different colors go and how long they stick around compared to the clear quartz mixtures.

[@johngleeman8347]

Those disco cacti are fabulous! Little spiked sombreros on the sand. xD

[@7GtwNYkHYs]

man your enthusiasm and knowledge makes this video so interesting

[@ubmastering]

Jaw dropping habitat. So cool.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Random question, do you know if there is a botanical term for when a stem can keep growing through a flower? I have noticed that red clover does it and it's super weird, like the stem grows out of a flower and makes another flower.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Those are called Indeterminate inflorescences, like you see in Melaleuca

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt Thank you so much, that makes it easier to look for papers on it! I have been dead heading a patch of red clover all summer where my native wildflowers didn't come up... And sometimes I will go to clip a spent bloom off and I'll actually see either another new flower head coming out of the spent bloom or occasionally a stem with a new flower bud coming out of it. Sometimes they just have a double-flower head at the same time, and it's not consistent, just seemingly random. I imagine I'm probably really screwing with the plant's auxins or something by clipping it periodically, or maybe it's an adaptation that this strain has developed from being mowed and/grazed in the past? I dunno 🤔 . Thanks 🙏 Edit: I found a paper on fava beans with an indeterminate inflorescence habit and the author hypothesized that I was from a genotype with SNPs in its TFL1 gene. That seems like a possibility.

[@pjk9225]

whoa that zig zagging branching is crazy! Would it be safe to say that the evolution was driven by the combination of low nutrient soil combined with the ability to have leaves underground and still be photosynthetic? I wonder if there are other plants that supplement their needs by eating nematodes that just havent been observed!

[@annarboriter]

I was suffering from heatstroke from watching. The commentary alone helped me to pull through

[@plutoniumiscool]

4:00 most likely a species of Caryocar, commonly called Pequi in Brazil.

[@JosephOfTheJungle]

Gosh, man. I could actually follow you around like a lost puppy and listen to you talk about this shit all day.

[@jacobrafaat1516]

This is fascinating I wonder how the function of photosynthesis differs for carnivorous plants and what endophytes are specific to helping these carnivorous plants or if they have photosynthetic endophytes like rhodosudemonas palustrus

[@aheinzer]

Subsurface photosynthesis?! That’s pretty cool

[@peterkentbanner8074]

Every time you say Disco cactus it pops an imge in my head of a cactus in the dance floor lol. Never knew about that carnivore spicie of plant. Nature is amazing, thanks.

[@HumanBean520]

I’m more of a cactus guy but it’s also amazing to see all the other plants around the world

[@monikachoma2412]

Mam kilka disco , film znakomity ukazuje w jak ekstremalnych warunkach żyją .SUPER

[@alanamccool7409]

This is the coolest habitat with the coolest plants; when you were down close to the ground with the camera it was like an alien world. Makes me think of sand prairies in midwest US.

[@kangarookristofer]

Amazing! Thanks as always for sharing!

[@snorrarat87]

im a cactus lover form thailand. Love your content so much. Seeing those plant in their habitat is so different than caultivar version, wow

[@ArcticAirUltraPro]

Stunning, what an interesting ecosystem….. so many rare sandy habitats

[@bobbiechinn9578]

That is amazing! Ur right I never seen that one before. I'm a collector/grower and gardener by trade and wow! They never cease to amaze me. Thank you my friend! U have opened a door for me! I'm off to research now 🌵💖

[@jaredknapp8886]

the philcoxia was dope. very cool to see, thanks for sharing.

[@thedudegrowsfood284]

comanthera looks like something discovered by a rover on mars

[@Valkyrie9000]

This guy is just what if the Double Rainbow guy started a botany channel, and I'm here for it

[@transistor754]

Amazing, Thanks! maybe they mostly live under the quartz ... like a mushroom? Cool. Thanks for coming to NewZ.... would loved to have attended a colloquium, had you given one!

[@alessandropinto5204]

Cool! There is another carnivorous plant which can be found in marsh areas, Utricularia reniformis. Its flowers are somewhat alike those, in color and shape, by the way. I have come across those in Parque Nacional de Itatiaia, which spans from Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro (right at the border). Would be a nice place for you to visit!

[@brianshissler3263]

That is pretty cool that is buries under the sand and keeps its leaves underground, but still gets light. Not even considering the carnivorous part and im still impressed lol.

[@Octodactylpus]

It's kinda crazy as an Australian seeing parts of Brazil look almost exactly the same, down to the red dirt and gum trees.

[@okboomer6201]

A little artists paint brush would have been helpful to rush the sand off those subterranean leaves.

[@lukehahn4489]

Monoculture is a death sentence. Alot of talk about global heating, nothing about habitat loss!

[@frankmacleod2565]

Clear sand and subterranean leaves. crazy

[@synthmage00]

They actually call it discocactus because you start dancing when you step on it.

[@aprilm.wemigwans-mezimegwa541]

Love the video. And love your fascination. Love how you ended the video. Lol no messing around 😂. Where’s your accent from? Do you think there’s more carnivorous plant species developing now than before?

[@silvestree1]

What a great way to start a Sunday

[@brianballa3086]

Love it great job.. Thanks for sharing.

[@oogalook]

Watching the childlike wonder of an expert is one of the coolest things to do on this site. Add in the earthy Boston diction to dispel all pretentiousness, and it's perfect joy for me.

[@bronhaller]

I love watching people nerd out like this... this is AWESOME! 🤩

[@jwolfe1209]

You can tell when the delirium from heatstroke really starts to step in 😅. Seriously dude, take care of yourself and keep up the awesome work ❤️

[@SlaeJay]

Was a beautiful plant, thanks for keeping the context

[@Zane-It]

Subterranean plants are very interesting and absolutely remarkable

[@bacon_sammich2845]

Super cool! Thanks for posting!

[@hollingharris659]

"look at all those brachs subtending the envulliger" as someone who has been foraging for years but has no formal botany training, i love this channel cause i know exactly what you're *doing* but have no idea what youre talking about.

[@IncogPollywog]

The area gives off similar vibes to some of the areas of the Lake Wales Ridge. Only superficial though. Definitely not as dry here and there aren't as many Cactaceae.

[@danisyx5804]

anytime i see a video even if i think i'm not in the mood for it i love this stuff. you changed my view of the world forever.

[@CFH1919]

1990's High Times Magazine quality 😂 your hilarious narrative gets me every time. I love to hear all about these various plants but I gotta say you really make it interesting and fun. Please keep it up man. Thank you for what you do and sharing.

[@heatherbrown5337]

New to the channel. The accent caught me and the content made me a subscriber! ❤

[@jonathanjackgoodman2764]

I'll never look at quartz sand the same again. Thanks for the knowledge man.

[@AphidKirby]

This is an absolutely inSANE plant WHAT!!!!! Alien... love em so much!

[@Fwootgummi]

Disco cactus might be the best name for a cactus ever

[@Louis-kw6yk]

imagine my shock when i saw that you were in the State that i live on! i've been studying abt the rare flowering plants that only happen in mt state, it's very interesting

[@BestCosmologist]

Super cool. Earth is amazing.

[@TheMyhrre]

thanks! i have never heared of it.. i am not a botanist and live in europe. and there is such a huge bunch more to learn about plants

[@madmattdigs9518]

Oh yeah, well, back here in Chicago we have hills, I mean dump piles covered with great ragweed so take that!

[@yudhapratama2322]

his unhinged energy is what makes botany interesting. Can't get enough of it

[@anneglass8084]

This one wins for best narration. I love hearing JS freak out over plants. Ah my ghad ❤

[@JeffBostick222]

I don't get growing eucalyptus trees for commercial purposes. There are leftover groves of eucalyptus in California that were meant for that purpose but then it turned out the wood is too unstable and unworkable for making furniture.

[@Erewhon2024]

Eucalyptus is a large genus. Some are better than others for particular applications. Jarrah veneer is rather expensive, especially if figured, but Brazil has many fine hardwoods of its own (& is in fact named after an endangered dyewood that is supposedly uniquely better for certain musical instrument parts), so I would prefer mixed plantations of those. However Eucalyptus probably has few pests outside of Australia and New Guinea. There are many Myrtaceae in South America, but they are mostly the berry/fruiting types related to Myrtus and guava rather than Eucalyptus, and probably chemically different enough that Eucalyptus is too stinky for their herbivores. As for California, remember it was settled by stupid people (notice the intense overpopulation in an area that was a desert in all of human history except during the population explosion) with poor tastes in everything including vegetation. Well, that and hindsight is easier than foresight.

[@JeffBostick222]

@@Erewhon2024 Thank you for providing details about eucalyptus trees. One point of contention I have is the stupid people somehow being responsible for the eucalyptus groves I mentioned. Some of those were planted in the late 50's / early 60's for commercial use and that mistake was made by the people who held those tracts of land. Eucalyptus is also well suited for hot dry conditions which are prominent in much of the state. Same goes for Arizona where you'll find them, thus their use as ornamentals.

[@talgreenberg3405]

Btw loved your trip to the Berkeley bowl. Also would love to see an update on all the ghetto gardening you did in Oakland.

[@treygreen6983]

Been watching your stuff for years. You're an unlikely creature, a hand-tattoo-having, Wisconsin-accented botanist. Really cool to walk with you and learn some things. If you're ever in Minnesota, give me a holler. I know where to find the best wild hemp. Won't get you high, but the smells and expressions are otherworldly...

[@TheSporadicShade1]

Noooo fucking idea what you're talking about but it's so entertaining

[@scarletstair4791]

Thank you for putting that h sound in cerrado I grew up with a step mom from Brazil and we used to play around with that h sound but with English words. Rambo was Hambo growing up 😊

[@greatestytcommentator]

Fibre Optic Photosynthesis? Through that Clear Silica Sand?

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Not fibre optic as no fibres.

[@plutoniumiscool]

You were very close to the habitat of one the most beaultiful sundews, Drosera graomogolensis.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

That's in an upcoming vid

[@MrEiht]

It has not heard of me neither. But we will NOT eat each other...for now. Jokes aside, this plant is cute as f*!

[@matdattein]

Oh what the hell you're in Brazil? Awesome, man. I'm watching you from Joinville, Santa Catarina. Interested to see what you'll find if you come down here in the south

[@soberhippie]

4:08 That's a Millennium Falcon plant right there. And the hairy cactus is, probably, the Chewbacca one

[@ruperterskin2117]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@Laika_Come_Home]

That indeed is a fuckin wild plant man. The subterranian leaves remind me of how lithops use windows to get their light underground. Thanks for the vid, my daughter is starting to catch my green thumb (I thank the fairies) and she is REALLY into carnivorous plants. Feeding her flytrap is always an event. This papa is a lithops man myself, love the sweet smellz. And the odd rotten smelling succulent too. Glad to find your page, you talk just like me too (a former chef) so she won't be taken aback by the sailor words. lord, its only 5 am here, and you got me giggling over the 90's high times comment!

[@sarcasmo57]

Wow neat plants.

[@Trygon]

lmao, 'that's 1990s high times quality!' This dude is like Plant Dunkey. I'm in.