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“I managed to save the world’s smallest water lily from extinction. Combined with my look, the media coined the name ‘plant messiah’ and it stuck” (Image: BG Kew)

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.

What kind of risks do you face when exploring the wilds?
The main risk on that expedition was saltwater crocodiles, which grow to 6 metres long. You can’t necessarily see them: if they sense you are coming they sink to the bottom to catch you by surprise. I went to collect in a very small creek, thinking it was safe, just to be told afterwards that a horse was killed by a croc in that exact spot just months before.

How do you gauge the risks?
The croc-or-not guessing game is not an accurate science. Locations range from “unlikely” to “almost suicidal”. We stuck to unlikely, but occasionally ventured into places where an attack was “quite possible”. There were times when we felt we had to enter potentially dangerous waters to reach a critically endangered species that desperately needed further research. If you are attacked by a crocodile there is nothing you can do but accept your ultimate fate as water-lily fertiliser.

What happens to the plants you collect?
My main work is propagation of tropical plants at Kew Gardens in London. We have specimens that are technically over 100 years old because we have cloned them simply by taking cuttings and growing them. We will keep these new lilies going, and collect seeds to be stored for conservation purposes and to provide DNA for further study.

You obviously have the right touch, because you’ve been dubbed the “plant messiah”.
That relates to a few difficult species I managed to grow, including the world’s smallest water lily (Nymphaea thermarum), which I saved from extinction in 2009 after the sole volcanic hot spring in Rwanda where it grew was diverted. No one had managed to grow the seeds from the last specimens, but after six months I managed it. Combining that with my long-haired, bearded look, the media coined the name and it stuck.

Do you think society needs to get more serious about saving plant species?
Certainly. Nobody questions why it is important to preserve art, and yet our plants are probably more precious than any art. As we face the challenges of global warming and rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plants are one of the few things that produce food and fuel while also sequestering CO₂.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Perils of the ‘plant messiah'”