Article 5ATVB Is it a bird? Is it a bee? No, it's a lizard pollinating South Africa's 'hidden flower'

Is it a bird? Is it a bee? No, it's a lizard pollinating South Africa's 'hidden flower'

by
Nick Dall
from on (#5ATVB)

How a chance encounter with a weird plant' in the Drakensberg mountains led to a startling discovery

Towards the end of 2017, PhD candidate Ruth Cozien and her husband Dr Timo van der Niet were attending a citizen science workshop high up in South Africa's Drakensberg mountains when they stumbled across this weird plant with green flowers hidden beneath its leaves, a really strong scent and enough nectar to drown an insect", Cozien recalls.

While many people might have admired the plant and walked away the couple, both members of the Pollination Ecology Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, were intrigued.

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