Perils of the 'plant messiah'

摘要

You scour the world for rare water lilies. What happened on your most recent trip? I was exploring remote areas in Kimberly, Western Australia, when I came across a lily that had first been collected in a totally different part of the country years before. Back then, it was not clear if it was a hybrid of two known species or just a local variation of an existing species. Finding it in Kimberly in large numbers helped prove that it was a totally new species. How satisfying was that? It was fantastic. After years of wondering about this plant, it was a huge surprise for me and my fellow botanists to make this discovery. We found creeks filled with them - it was breathtaking.