A storybook scientist sTEAM

Margaret Mee was a fantastic artist. She specialised in drawing plants from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. Her art helped the world understand the need to protect and look after the Amazon.

Margaret Mee

But there was a flower that eluded Margaret, the most beautiful one of all. It was called the moonflower, and it bloomed on a cactus called Selenicerus wittii.

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The moonflower opens at night for just a few hours, and then it dies. That’s why it’s so hard to see. Margaret travelled into the rainforest 15 times to find it. Sometimes she arrived too early. Other times, she was too late. It seemed impossible to find the right moment. But she never gave up!