It's unexplainable, I'm producer Manning Went, and I'm here with Vox Science reporter

Benji Jones, who's been looking into a particularly strange plant.

So I have been talking with a scientist in Chile named Ernesto Gianoli, and he told me

about a very mysterious plant, Bokila trifoliolata.

Oh my gosh.

What a name.

Bokila trifoliolata.

Yeah.

And he told me about a pretty remarkable discovery that he made over a decade ago.

It was during field work that he was doing with some postdocs and grad students and

a forest in southern Chile.

And I was alone in the forest, which is a experience that is special.

And I was walking in this very dark part of the forest and every now and then I stopped

looking around, looking close to the leaves, and then continue.

And then he comes across a plant that he knows quite well called Audrayon.

I like the green of Audrayon leaves.

I like the spiny tips, Audrayon.

And when he went closer to it, he realized that these Audrayon leaves were actually part

of a different plant.

They realized that some of the leaves were coming from a much thinner stem.

And when he traced it down to the stem, he realized that that plant was another species

entirely called Bokila trifoliolata.

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