The Darker Side of Plants - The Underworld of Plants

This talk is the second in our series of 8 online talks on the darker aspects of plants.

This new series of talks explores the Darker Side of Plants – the marvels, mysteries, and murderous nature of the plant world - from fact to fantasy and fiction.

This lecture follows the journey of a plant hunter and illustrator who has painted his way around the globe, depicting the underworld of plants: a world in which plants kidnap, steal and kill! The plant kingdom is replete with intriguing forms and structures which have long inspired botanists and botanical illustrators. Chris will recount the challenges of his adventures as a botanist, how he has sought to conjure up these strange plants on canvas, and insights into the research that is done on them at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.

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Dr Chris Thorogood is the Deputy Director and Head of Science of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, and a lecturer in biology at the University of Oxford’s Department of Plant Sciences. Chris’s research focusses on the evolution of parasitic and carnivorous plants, conservation of parasitic plants, plant diversity in the Mediterranean Basin and Japan, and the biomimetic applications of plants. Chris is an ambassador for public engagement with plant sciences and is a panellist for BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris is a wildlife artist, botanical illustrator, and an international best-selling author of specialist field guides and popular titles.

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Plants are full of surprises - they live in a parallel world to ours and have many hidden and strange facets. This series of talks uncovers plants for what they really can be - toxic, dangerous yet attractive, users of entrapment and carnivory, enticing and exotic yet not above using chemical warfare to defend their patch and themselves. Humans use them for healing and to deal out death, but also to help solve mysteries and as sources of creative (but dark) inspiration. Take a journey with us looking at specific aspects of plants: their chemicals, unusual lifestyles and interactions; and how we use (and have misused) them to discover new drugs, solve crimes, heal, commit murder and weave them into deadly gardens and fiction.

Our speakers are diverse, expert and passionate about their subject. They include a renowned and talented biologist who searches the world for plants that kill; trained chemists who have been won over by the world of plants and their mysterious secrets (and write award winning books); an internationally respected botanist who solves crimes using plants, and an author and international garden historian.