CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt

Botanizing Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico

Psilocybin Mushrooms of the Mexican Highlands

Psilocybe zapotecorum is a species of potent psychoactive mushroom that almost solely grows on the vertical scars left by landslides in steep muddy mountainous terrain in Southern Mexico.

Gypsum Badlands

Eriogonum havardii, Anulocaulis leisolenus,
Drone footage of the Boquillas formation, Holacantha stewartii (Simaroubaceae) etc

The Silver-leaved Beast of South Texas

Desert Ironweeds and Fake Name Emergency Room Scams

The Long Lost Candelaria

A disjunct (and extremely out of place) population of Euphorbia antisyphylitica that was likely a case of human-assisted dispersal is the focus of today's video, but a number of other remarkable subjects (Peyote, Petrified Wood, Arrow points, Stone Tools, and Star Cactus) make their way into this episode as we once again expl...

Some photos from the Spirit Eye Cave Yesterday

Having just gotten some good rains, the desert was lit up. 

Echinocereus dasyacanthus, Tiquilia greggii, Mortonia sempervirens, Senna lindheimeriana, Aristolochia wrightii

Spirit Eye Cave

I had to redo this episode because some shady Chinese company filed a AI (mistaken) copyright claim on the license-free music I used for the drone shot, but you can still watch it while it's unlisted.

This was a fun day. I can now say I've held 31,000 year old ground Sloths shit.

Kill Your Lawn Instructional (Feedback Appreciated)

Been doing short vids

Normally I don't like revisiting old material but some of these plants are just too incredible to end up being missed because they're sandwiched in an older, longer video from 3 years ago. So here's another. This won't be released publicly until next week.

Do I need a goddamned Gimbal? Your feedback appreciated.

I never watch my own videos but I was watching some of the recent ones to see how the drone footage came out and it pissed me off how shaky they are. I guess I never realized it bc I never watch these on a full screen (I didn't own a TV until a few months ago) but holy hell do I need some stabilizing.

Would a gimbal h...

Endangered Air Plants (Tillandsia Dungeon)

West Texas Peyote Preserve

In this episode we check out Dr. Martin Terry's efforts to establish a preserve in West Texas for both Peyote and Living Rock cacti, Lophophora williamsii and Ariocarpus fissuratus, respectively. We also catch an aerial glimpse of the transition zone between volcanic rock and limestone and the drastic change in plant life tha...

Resurrection Plants

In this video, filmed in Namibia in the second week of May 2022, we get an up close look at some incredibly strange botanical oddities, such as spiny succulent milkweeds, enormous bottle trees, giant succulent treemembers of the grape family, and - coolest of all - a plant that can come back from the "dead" with the onset of ...

Dry Limestone Prairies of Austin Texas

In this episode of Crime Pays, we visit a particularly cool habitat known as the dry limestone prairie, and are introduced to a white flowered member of the sunflower family that is especially adapted to growing on these harsh, nearly soil-less plains. Silphium albiflorum is a Texas Endemic, meaning it only grows within the g...

A few from Austin today

Asclepias viridiflora has some of the coolest flowers of any milkweed (but really you could say that about any of the species), with pinkmaroon hoods. Silphium albiflorum is a Texas endemic with sandpaper-ey laciniate leaves adapted to the druland limestone prairies of Central Texas, and Chamaecrista fasciculata produces biza...

Drawings lately

Here's a few drawings I've been doing on the inside covers of the book I just put out. Been hawking these via Venmo. Plenty of books still available if you're interested. PS - Sorry to be selling shit on Patreon. I appreciate all your support.

J

North America's Weirdest Parasitic Plant

I'm a bit concerned about the cadence of this one once we get to the subject of the plant in question, as we discuss floral morphology before we discuss how weird this plant is and why. I kind of feel like it still works, but please let me know. Once again thanks for being a supporter. 🙏

New Website

Been working on the website and will slowly be adding high resolution images to the "photos" page.

Co-Evolution in Carnivorous Plants

Note: Dealing with lots of dismal bullshit (childhood cancer is a pain in the ass) over here so I did not proof-watch this whatsoever so if there's fuck-ups or typos in captions let me know. Thanks, as always, for your continued support. This won't be public for a month or so.

J

The Great Welwitschia mirabilis

The tone on this one is a little morose as I had just gotten some really awful news hours before (and subsequently canceled the rest of the filming), but I still managed to put together a video on what may be the weirdest plant of all... Welwitschia mirabilis from the coastal fog deserts of Namibia

The Orchid Dungeon Part II

Andy's Orchid Dungeon

Feedback on this one appreciated...too long? Too long-winded in the explanations? There's an entire second part as the whole compendium was too long. Should I have just kept it all as one 56 minute video? What's easiest to watch for you, the viewer?

Thanks in advance.

Thank You

I know this doesn't mean shit and it's just a few words but I want to express thanks for all who support me via patreon. Money from letting YouTube run terrible ads on the channel doesn't pay shit enough to be close to a living wage, and if it weren't for you guys I would probably still be shuffling box cars around a switchin...

Aztekium ritteri

A shining example of mimicry in a cactus...

Ariocarpus scaphirostris is one of the most bizarre cacti in the world...

The world's tiniest paintbrush

And the world's highest Agave

Desert Sky Islands and Agave gentryi

Gypsophiles and How Geology Dictates Plant Evolution

Aristolochia, Biznaga, Gypsum endemics