EPISODE ONE: THE CASE OF THE MISSING WATER LILY

In this episode, we learn about how the world’s smallest water lily was stolen from The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2014. We speak to those closest to the crime to hear their stories of what happened that day and their theories on the identity of the thief. We look forward to the future of the species, which is relatively bright, and the future of life on this planet, which is not.

Guests: 

Carlos Magdalena — tropical botanical horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Sam Knight — staff writer at The New Yorker

Elias Bizuru — biology professor and conservationist at the University of Rwanda

Source material: 

The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species by Carlos Magdalena 

Why would someone steal the world’s rarest water lily? by Sam Knight

Further reading: 

‘London Bridge is down’: the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death by Sam Knight

World’s smallest water lily saved from extinction by John Platt

The Smallest and Rarest Water Lily by In Defense of Plant Podcast

World’s Smallest Water Lily Debuts in Garden Pools by Cassidy Moody

Plant Crimes is written and produced by me, Ellen Airhart. If you like this episode, please subscribe and tell people about it through a review. If you want to make sure there’s a season two, here’s a link to my Patreon. Plant Crimes art is by Nikki Duong. Intro music by Doxent Zsigmond and theme song and outro music is by APM. If you want me to investigate a plant crime or you would like to advertise on the show, please get in touch via email at plantcrimes [at] gmail [dot] com, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.