Madagascar, 2000

Light permeates the sheer petals of a Madagascar periwinkle.
Catharanthus roseus’s delicate appearance belies its powerful pharmaceutical prowess. The flower yields a compound that has been used effectively to treat leukemia.
Scientists are racing to study the thousands of potentially beneficial plant species found in the world's tropical forests before they are destroyed by deforestation.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Nature’s RX,” April 2000, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Lynn Johnson