● Thank you Birch Living for sponsoring! Click here https://birchliving.com/crimepays to get 20% off your Birch mattress (plus two free Eco-Rest pillows!). Offers are subject to change. #birchliving originallly filmed in Southern Hemisphere winter, July 2023. In this episode we make a trek to see the recently-described xerophytic bromeliad Encholirium agavoides in the mountains of Minas Gerais, Brazil but get distracted by the evolutionarily-convergent leaf morphology exemplified by all these incredible goddamn plants. Plants take on otherworldly forms on the nutrient-poor, ancient metamorphosed sandstone in this unique habitat, many of them possessing sessile leaves that clasp the stem and overlap each other like snake scales or roofing shingles, which seems to be an adaptation to both the nutrient-poor soil chemistry and the long dry season in this seasonally-dry tropical habitat. Plants featured include : Kielmeyera sp. Mikania sessilifolia (Asteraceae) Declieuxia deltoidea (Rubiaceae) Chamaecrista vauthieri (Fabaceae) Dasyphyllum reticulatum (Asteraceae) Cipocereus minensis (Cactaceae) Lychnophora ericoides (ASteraceae) Vellozia nivea (Velloziaceae) Richterago (Asteraceae) Lagenocarpus sp. (Cyperaceae) Aulonemia effusa (Poaceae) Microlicia avicularis (Melastomataceae) Cyrtopodium parviflorum (Orchidaceae) Aegiphila lhotzkiana (Lamiaceae) Eremanthus elaeagnus (Asteraceae) Odontadenia lutea (Apocynaceae) Lafoensia pacari (Lythraceae) Bowdichia virgilioides (Fabaceae) and many more. Encholirium agavoides footage gratefully donated by Dylan Zoller Thank you Birch Living for sponsoring! Click here https://birchliving.com/URL to get 20% o your Birch mattress (plus two free Eco-Rest pillows!). Oers are subject to change. #birchliving ●