Sir David Attenborough travels the world to explore the extraordinary ways in which plants have learnt to survive and thrive in almost every environment in BBC Earth’s landmark series, “The Green Planet”.
Produced by BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, the show - through the latest advancements in science and technology - captures the secret lives of the world’s rarest and strangest plants never witnessed before.
The BBC cameras travel to the Fynbos region of South Africa to witness a fire lily rise from the ashes after laying dormant underground for nearly two decades.
Smoke awakens the plant, which blooms just four days following a fire, with flame-coloured flowers. This extraordinary plant is captured on camera for the first time.
Dubbed as Sir David’s incredible passion project, this six-part natural history series was created over four years by BBC.
The series uses pioneering motion-control robotics systems to immerse viewers in an interconnected world. Viewers get a plant’s perspective on life as we see how they count, hunt, deceive, forge friendships, and manipulate to survive.
More sophisticated than we ever imagined, this project paints a picture of plants as our greatest allies – humanity’s greatest hope.
“There has been a revolution worldwide in attitudes towards the natural world in my lifetime.
“An awakening and an awareness of how important the natural world is to us all.
“An awareness that we would starve without plants, we wouldn't be able to breathe without plants.
“The world is green, and yet people's understanding about plants, except in a very kind of narrow way, has not kept up with that. I think this series will bring it home,” said Sir David.
South Africa appears in the third episode titled “Seasonal Worlds”, featuring the fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom, which contains more plant species than anywhere in the world.
The six-part series, including a making-of episode, premieres on Sunday, February 13 at 4pm on BBC Earth (DStv channel 184).