Jonathan Drori spoke about the Millenium Seed Bank project and at the Q & A he was asked if he had any more seed collecting stories. This is the story he shared:During a seed-collecting trip to the Andes last year, I saw the most amazing bird I’ve ever seen in my life, which I now know to be one of the world’s largest hummingbirds –- a truly remarkable creature.
Almost speechless, and keeping my voice low, I pointed at it and asked one of the Chilean plant-scientists with us what we were looking at.
He appeared puzzled for a moment, then brightened, “That’s a fantastic plant -– quite rare though it’s not much to look at -- it’ll be easier to see once that distracting bird gets out of the way."
Source:
Scenes from the Millennium Seed Bank: Q & A with Jonathan Drori, TED Blog, 10 June 2009.
Dr Geoff Pound
Image: Jonathan Drori (photo courtesy of TED Blog at above link).
