Chris Thorogood
@christhorogood.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Biology at Oxford University; plant chaser; artist; author. Find me on Insta @illustratingbotanist
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Hello world! I'm a botanist based at Oxford who's lucky enough to work with some of the most astonishing plants imaginable. Looking forward to connecting with you all here x
About to step off the map for a while. Wish us luck x
November 17, 2025 at 9:01 AM
About to step off the map for a while. Wish us luck x
Today in Sumatra we found forest ghost flowers (Aeginetia sp.). This leafless, parasitic plant has no need for sunlight and blossoms unseen in the very depths of the forest.
November 17, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Today in Sumatra we found forest ghost flowers (Aeginetia sp.). This leafless, parasitic plant has no need for sunlight and blossoms unseen in the very depths of the forest.
The Sumatran jungle is a place where plants corkscrew themselves out of the ground:
November 17, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The Sumatran jungle is a place where plants corkscrew themselves out of the ground:
Deep in the Sumatran jungle today we found the extraordinary flowers of Rhizanthes pushing their fangs through the forest floor. A sap-sucking, leafless parasite, this is one of the world's weirdest plants.
November 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Deep in the Sumatran jungle today we found the extraordinary flowers of Rhizanthes pushing their fangs through the forest floor. A sap-sucking, leafless parasite, this is one of the world's weirdest plants.
Today we found something magical, deep in the wild green heart of Sumatra: Rafflesia kemumu in full bloom. One of the world's largest flowers, to see this extremely rare species in full bloom is truly special.
November 16, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Today we found something magical, deep in the wild green heart of Sumatra: Rafflesia kemumu in full bloom. One of the world's largest flowers, to see this extremely rare species in full bloom is truly special.
Back in the land of happy plants and people: Sumatra 💫
November 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Back in the land of happy plants and people: Sumatra 💫
It's good to be back in the land of the snake fruit (Salacca zalacca).
Indonesia 🫶🏻
Indonesia 🫶🏻
November 13, 2025 at 8:39 AM
It's good to be back in the land of the snake fruit (Salacca zalacca).
Indonesia 🫶🏻
Indonesia 🫶🏻
Trevesia burckii produces otherworldly leaves the shape of snowflakes. This formation may be an adaptation to help sunlight filter down to lower leaves, helping the plant photosynthesize in shaded forests.
October 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Trevesia burckii produces otherworldly leaves the shape of snowflakes. This formation may be an adaptation to help sunlight filter down to lower leaves, helping the plant photosynthesize in shaded forests.
Eloise, my 9 year old toad, changes colour with the season. Today she's wearing her best autumn colours. Toads alter their skin colour using pigment-containing cells that expand or contract in response to temperature and light. Soon she'll turn dark brown as the nights get cold.
October 11, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Eloise, my 9 year old toad, changes colour with the season. Today she's wearing her best autumn colours. Toads alter their skin colour using pigment-containing cells that expand or contract in response to temperature and light. Soon she'll turn dark brown as the nights get cold.
STUNNING new family book by @jondrori.bsky.social showing how plants' lives and ours are intertwined. Imaginative, beautiful, fun x
October 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
STUNNING new family book by @jondrori.bsky.social showing how plants' lives and ours are intertwined. Imaginative, beautiful, fun x
A pencil portrait I've just completed featuring Rhizanthes deceptor - one of the world's strangest flowers - and its custodians, in the Sumatran rainforest.
August 30, 2025 at 8:10 AM
A pencil portrait I've just completed featuring Rhizanthes deceptor - one of the world's strangest flowers - and its custodians, in the Sumatran rainforest.
The world's smallest and largest flowers:
August 14, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The world's smallest and largest flowers:
A montage of nature I have painted over the years:
August 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
A montage of nature I have painted over the years:
Today we described a new species of 'desert hyacinth': Cistanche mimii, from the Middle East. Welcome to science you beautiful thing ✨
Published in #Phytokeys.
Published in #Phytokeys.
August 1, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Today we described a new species of 'desert hyacinth': Cistanche mimii, from the Middle East. Welcome to science you beautiful thing ✨
Published in #Phytokeys.
Published in #Phytokeys.
A pencil portrait I've just completed featuring a farmer I met in Inner Mongolia. Like many of my subjects, I suppose he'll never see his portrait - never know that the brief moment my orbit swung into his would be captured forever in graphite ✨
July 25, 2025 at 6:43 AM
A pencil portrait I've just completed featuring a farmer I met in Inner Mongolia. Like many of my subjects, I suppose he'll never see his portrait - never know that the brief moment my orbit swung into his would be captured forever in graphite ✨
Little dancing little stars ✨
The seed-heads of a pincushion starflower (Lomelosia stellata).
The seed-heads of a pincushion starflower (Lomelosia stellata).
July 24, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Little dancing little stars ✨
The seed-heads of a pincushion starflower (Lomelosia stellata).
The seed-heads of a pincushion starflower (Lomelosia stellata).
A pencil sketch I've just completed depicting Ma Xue Mei, a farmer I met on an expedition to Inner Mongolia who grows medicinal plants sustainably.
July 14, 2025 at 8:46 PM
A pencil sketch I've just completed depicting Ma Xue Mei, a farmer I met on an expedition to Inner Mongolia who grows medicinal plants sustainably.
Turning over a fern leaf reveals an astonishing stencilled constellation of spores:
July 12, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Turning over a fern leaf reveals an astonishing stencilled constellation of spores:
Look what my night-flowering cactus just did:
July 11, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Look what my night-flowering cactus just did:
Ghost flowers (Monotropa uniflora) rise from the forest floor like pale seahorses. They lack leaves, roots and chlorophyll because rather than manufacturing food from sunlight, they steal it from an underground fungus.
July 6, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Ghost flowers (Monotropa uniflora) rise from the forest floor like pale seahorses. They lack leaves, roots and chlorophyll because rather than manufacturing food from sunlight, they steal it from an underground fungus.
Once in a while one of my succulents sends a star into the world ⭐
July 4, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Once in a while one of my succulents sends a star into the world ⭐
It was a privilege to meet these farmers in Inner Mongolia last month. Sketching is my little way of thanking the world for the beauty it sends my way x
June 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
It was a privilege to meet these farmers in Inner Mongolia last month. Sketching is my little way of thanking the world for the beauty it sends my way x
The floating leaves of the mosaic plant (Ludwigia sedioides) form self-assembling rafts of diamonds that slowly conquer the water.
June 29, 2025 at 10:26 AM
The floating leaves of the mosaic plant (Ludwigia sedioides) form self-assembling rafts of diamonds that slowly conquer the water.
Reposted by Chris Thorogood
Gutted that you missed our recent #WildFlowerID webinars?
Mulleins (with @anaturalistabroad.bsky.social)
Mints (with @ambroisebaker.bsky.social)
Broomrapes (with @christhorogood.bsky.social)
No problem, we recorded them & the videos are on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Mulleins (with @anaturalistabroad.bsky.social)
Mints (with @ambroisebaker.bsky.social)
Broomrapes (with @christhorogood.bsky.social)
No problem, we recorded them & the videos are on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
June 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Gutted that you missed our recent #WildFlowerID webinars?
Mulleins (with @anaturalistabroad.bsky.social)
Mints (with @ambroisebaker.bsky.social)
Broomrapes (with @christhorogood.bsky.social)
No problem, we recorded them & the videos are on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Mulleins (with @anaturalistabroad.bsky.social)
Mints (with @ambroisebaker.bsky.social)
Broomrapes (with @christhorogood.bsky.social)
No problem, we recorded them & the videos are on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Some pitcher plants of Borneo I have just finished illustrating in pen and ink:
June 11, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Some pitcher plants of Borneo I have just finished illustrating in pen and ink: