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Laura Teegarden

Factoid: The Parasitic Plant Connection can be found at http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/ or by searching for parasitic plants on www.google.com.

Daniel Nickrent loves his plants so much his collection of plant DNA is included in his will.

Nowhere else in the world has the extensive collection of parasitic plant DNA that SIUC has, said Nickrent, a professor in the biology department.

To supplement his collection, Nickrent created The Parasitic Plant Connection, which is a Web site that provides pictures and information regarding this interesting plant species. "It really includes some of the weirdest of the weird," Nickrent said.

He created the Web site around 1997 as a way to organize the multitude of photographs and information surrounding parasitic plants.

"The Web page is a clearinghouse of information," Nickrent said.

Many people do not realize how common parasitic plants are, and that samples can even be found around Campus Lake, he said.

"You can find them anywhere," Nickrent said. "That is what is fun about this. I don't go anywhere unless there are parasitic plants."

Nickrent has collected photographs on his Web site of 224 out of the 274 parasitic plant genres, and hopes to find them all.

"I tend to be obsessive. I want pictures of everything," he said. "A picture speaks a thousand words."

In Nickrent's opinion, one of the weirdest plants featured on his Web site is the hydnora. As if the appearance of the brown, bulbous plant isn't strange enough, it has the capability to push its flowers through solid concrete.

"There have been stories from Africa of it popping up through the floors of buildings," Nickrent said.

The appeal of parasitic plants ranges from their use in science as well as art, he said. "They are not just scientifically useful, but beautiful as well," Nickrent said.

The Parasitic Plant Connection not only provides information, it also serves as a means of communication between professionals in the field.

"It brings people together," Nickrent said. "In a way, this really facilitates communication." In fact, Nickrent is meeting a photographer who consistently sends him pictures for his Web site at a conference in Vienna, Austria on Saturday.

"This is recognized as being one of the premiere places to get information on plants," Nickrent said. "Really, there's nothing out there exactly like this."