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

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.

Most plants have brightly coloured flowers that act as a beacon for would-be pollinators like birds, bees and butterflies. But in this case, with its green flowers well camouflaged and very low to the ground, the couple surmised that the Guthriea capensis (commonly known as “the hidden flower”) must belong to the few species ...  Read more

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26 OCTOBER 2021 | STORY NONSINDISO QWABE | PHOTO NONSINDISO QWABE