Parinari capensis

Michael Caine once described himself as “calm, like a duck, on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath.” What would be the botanical equivalent? I wondered if it could be this week’s plant, Parinari capensis. It doesn’t seem to have a lot going on above the surface, but there’s a lot hidden beneath. Parinari capensis is a geoxyle, an underground tree. I thought that most trees had a good portion of themselves underground, but some plants have taken this to an extreme, putting their...