Botanical Lecture | Plant Lust: When Consumerism and Conservation Collide

Plant collecting has long preoccupied people. In the beginning, it was a matter of survival, and although we still seek botanical discoveries that may yield miracle medicines, wonder foods, or other products, the pleasure of amassing plants for their beauty and/or rarity is an equally powerful compulsion. Social media, hyper-efficient transportation, and internet commerce have amplified this pursuit with dire ecological effects in habitats around the world and in California.

About the Speaker

Sandy Masuo is the botanical content specialist at The Huntington. Prior to that, she was the associate editor in the Los Angeles Zoo publications division for 18 years following a 15-year adventure as a music journalist. In 2016, under the pen name Rosana DuMas, she published Unnatural Selection: Life and Death on the Paper Trail, the story of a horticulturist/detective investigating the dubious death of a zoo docent. She holds a BA from Brown University and an Ed. M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.