Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
wrist. “Can’t say I’m too fond of the abundance of bamboo out here.
But if we ever get out, there’s a hardy species I have my eye on that
would be ideal for a zoo I’m working with.” He carefully pulled out
one of the strange red plants and held it up. It was attached to a twin,
connected by a ball-like root. The thing looked even more obscene,
Heidi thought, like the sexual organs of conjoined twin satyrs. She
tried to act nonchalant.
“Aha!” Moff exclaimed. “I thought it might be. Balanophora! Yep,
right ecosystem, grows in Asia—China and Thailand for sure. Quite
a few species. Sixteen, as I recall. This may very well be the seven­
teenth. They’re listed in the annals of Weird Plant Morphology.
We’re all familiar with the bizarre humor in plant life. See the shape
of the head? Most have more of an acorn pattern, not quite this
smooth.” He extracted a few more plants. “I’ve never seen photos
of anything like this,” he said, growing more excited by the second.
“If this is a new species, it’s a beauty, longer and thicker than most,
and completely red, instead of having a flesh-colored stem.” He in­
spected it from all angles.
“What do you mean by new species?” Heidi said. “You mean it’s a
mutant?”
“Just that it’s not identified, not in the taxonomy where people
keep track of such things. Of course, the people here might have a
name for it. Big Red, for all I know. Wow, this is incredible....” He
caught Heidi staring at him with a bemused expression.
He grinned. “Hey, if it’s a new species, I could get it named after
me.” He drew his finger across as if reading a plaque: “Balanophora
moffetti.” He looked at Heidi again. “I’m kidding. Some scientist
would first have to verify that it is indeed an undiscovered species,
and it would probably be named after him. Though sometimes they
name it after whoever found it.”
“I saw it before you,” Heidi teased.
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