Fifteen scientists from six countries have come together to look at the loss of crop diversity – including its causes and its full extent. Their review of hundreds of other studies published over [.]
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by Doug Johnson
The alien-like blooms and putrid stench of
Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around
75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than 300,000 people viewed it online.
But despite the corpse flower’s fame, its future is uncertain. The roughly 500 specimens that were living in botanical gardens and some university and private collections as of 2019 are deeply related a lack of genetic diversity that can make them more vulnerable to a host of problems, such as disease or a changing climate.