**Update: Due to pandemic concerns, this lecture has been cancelled.**

Speaker: Jay F. Bolin
Associate Professor and Chair of the Biology Department
Catawba College

The genus Hydnora undoubtedly include the strangest plants in the world. Ranging from the Cape of Good Hope to the Horn of Africa and across the Red Sea to the Arabian Desert, the parasitic plant genus Hydnora has astounded and amazed naturalists that are fortunate enough to observe it. However, few encounter this bizarre and furtive parasite, because it spends most of its life underground stealing water and nutrients from the roots of host plants. When Hydnora emerges from the soil, the grotesquely beautiful flowers defy expectation by looking and smelling of rotting meat, indicators of an incredible pollination story. Bolin, an authority on this twisted branch of life, will describe the history, ecology, and evolution of this wonderful group of botanical oddities, recounting explorations and new species discoveries from the restricted diamond fields of Namibia to the margins of the Rub’ al Kali desert in the Sultanate of Oman.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Dr. Bolin’s upcoming lecture.