Hello everyone and welcome to the In Defensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of

Indefensiveplants.com.

What's up?

This is your host, Matt.

Welcome to the show.

How is everyone doing this week?

Well, I know I'm doing well because we are going to be talking about some of my

favorite plants in the entire plant kingdom, the parasites.

Now, of course, parasites is not a family genus or species of plants. It's a

lifestyle that's cropped up amongst a bunch of different groups. And to study the interactions

and how much they parasitize their hosts and how it might have evolved is a fascinating realm

of scientific inquiry. Joining us to talk about this is Dr. Caitlin Khan. Broadly speaking,

her research falls under two big questions. How do parasites perceive their hosts and what

determines the range of host preferences that different parasitic plants can take? Most of her work

focuses on the family Oroban Casey, which produces some of the most beautiful

parasites, in my opinion, and her research gives us wonderful insights into the evolution

of this lifestyle, not only within this family, but across all of the parasitic plants we can

find on this planet.

So let's just jump right into it.

Without further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Caitlin Con. I hope you enjoy.

All right, Dr. Caitlin Con, it is so great to have you on the podcast.

I'm really excited to talk about your research today, but first let's introduce yourself.

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