Photo by Jason Millstein/Illume Photography Wendy Hodgson

Wendy Hodgson is Desert Botanical Garden’s resident ghost. Her name is whispered throughout the desert setting, but very few know what she looks like. That’s because this plant expert extraordinaire is usually either off hunting for new-to-science plants (she has already discovered five, with two more soon to be official) or researching thousands of plant specimens in the garden’s herbarium, a room with rows of cabinets full of pressed plants that have been spliced and dried, ready to be investigated by botanists and scientists.

In other words, Hodgson, 59, is a plant hunter, braving scorching temperatures and cactus spines on hikes within the Grand Canyon to unearth never-before-seen plant specimens. With 36 years at DBG under her belt as herbarium curator and research botanist, Hodgson hopes to improve and expand upon plant collections from the U.S. and around the world.

What is it like hunting for new plants?
I love it. It’s like detectives and mysteries and trying to figure out these plants. I’ve always said plants will let you know when they want to be discovered. I truly believe in that. I love just the whole preparing for it: getting my maps, getting the gear ready and off I go searching, trying to find populations and individuals. It’s always exciting to me to find plants that I rarely see or have never seen.

What do you think of being called “the plant expert”?
I’ll tell you, I know what I don’t know, that’s for sure. My parents taught me to be humble and appreciative. There are a lot of people who were extremely instrumental and took an interest in me. They saw I had something, encouraged me and answered all my stupid questions, which really helped me get to where I am today – as well as my own passion and drive.

How do you name the plants you discover?
I do a lot of botany by Zen or just gut feeling. You look at other specimens and compare them to what you think it’s similar to. The more information, the better, because you can’t go back and say, “Oh, sorry, it’s really not!” To publish a new species you Latinize the name, give a brief description and then publish it in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. There’s a lot involved. It’s not like anybody can just do it, which is great because there’s enough names out there that we have to deal with. It would be nice to have a plant named after me someday, but I hope it’s not some really ugly plant. There aren’t any ugly plants, but there are some that just aren’t quite as attractive.

Do you talk to the plants?
Absolutely. I’ll say how beautiful they are and I say a lot of thank yous. You know, there’s a double-edge sword in this job. It’s hard when you have to take a whole little plant to make a specimen that has spent 20 to 30 years getting to the size it is. I thank them and I apologize. I try to do it as respectfully as possible.

How do you live off of a botanist’s salary?
A lot of it is love and passion. Unless you’re in academia with a full tenured professorship, it’s not usually a high-paying job, but it’s enough to do well. I’m not complaining. It’s something that I love! I’m not the type of person who wants to make a huge amount of money for something I don’t really have a passion for.

— Interviewed by Kaitlyn Grimmer