Dr Chris Thorogood
The deputy director and head of science at Oxford Botanic Garden on his journey deep into the rainforest to propagate Rafflesia
I’ve always been fascinated by plants. I have a scientific mind and want to understand how things work. When I was little, I’d grow plants on my bedroom windowsill and crammed in as many Venus fly traps, squirting cucumbers and other oddities as I could.
My job has many aspects. I carry out research with mathematicians, physicians and chemists, all seeking to understand more about plants. Working as a botanist is an international role and I travel a lot: last week I was up a mountain in Sicily as part of a field guide project. I also look after the plants here at Oxford Botanic Garden. I love glasshouses because they transport me to another world of unusual plants.
My challenge is to get people to see the world as I do. It is sometimes diffcult to get people to engage, but we depend on plants for our very existence. They are part of the answer to all of our crises. Two in five of the world’s plant species are currently threatened with extinction, yet people are at their most disconnected.
I work mainly with parasitic plants. Ra esia is parasitic, and although it is the world’s largest flower it is still little understood. In my new book,
Pathless Forest, I document my journey through remote rainforests in Southeast Asia, alongside botanists and foresters, to chart, study and protect Ra esia. This was an extraordinary experience and I felt compelled to document it.
The book is written in the first person, present tense, and I hope readers will sense how time is running out in terms of plant extinction but will also see a positive message in our e orts to propagate Ra esia.
I returned to the Philippines to check on the grafted Ra esia
recently, and although we won’t know for a few years if it has survived, its host plant is alive and well.
I like to document remote places in pictures or words, and the medium depends on my subject. Oils are not conventional, but they felt fitting for a meaty subject like
Ra esia. Anyone wanting to try botanical illustration should have a go. Technique can be learned if you have intentionality and time. • Pathless Forest is published by Penguin. (RRP £25).
Follow Chris on Instagram: @illustratingbotanist