Western Australia's incredible underground orchid

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 19:30 in Biology & Nature

Rhizanthella gardneri is a cute, quirky and critically endangered orchid that lives all its life underground. It even blooms underground, making it virtually unique amongst plants. Last year, using radioactive tracers, scientists showed that the orchid gets all its nutrients by parasitizing fungi associated with the roots of broom bush, a woody shrub of the Western Australia outback. Now, with less than 50 individuals left in the wild, scientists have made a timely and remarkable discovery about its genome.

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