Diamonds BURIED HERE

STRANGE-LOOKING A PLANT TELLS PROSPECTORS WHERE TO DIG.

- Avery Elizabeth Hurt

The center of the Earth doesn't easily give up its secrets, but sometimes it does spew up diamonds. To find the good ones, though, you have to know where to look. Stephen Haggerty, a geologist at Florida International University, has discovered a strange plant in a West African jungle that could make finding diamonds a whole lot easier.

Tall Plant, Secret Sign?

Diamonds are forever, or so the song says. They are certainly old-from one to three billion years old. Diamonds are the hardest natural substance on Earth, and the purest ones are colorless. When you look at one in soft lighting, even if you aren't a romantic, you'll have to admit, diamonds are beautiful. They are also rare.

Diamonds are found in kimberlite, a type of rock that forms when magma or molten lava cools. Kimberlite forms columns, called pipes, that reach deep into the Earth. But it isn't easy to find kimberlite pipes. The dense jungle in West Africa makes searching for them even more difficult. "If you've seen Tarzan movies, then you know what this place looks like," says Haggerty.

After several years of working in the Liberian jungle, Haggerty started to realize that an unusual plant might be able to help people find diamonds. "At 10 to 15 meters [33 to 49 feet] in height, it looks more like a tree than a plant. These are like plants on steroids," he says. It has a weird above-ground root system, spiny fronds, and is truly exotic-looking. The plant is called pamaya by the locals, who often use its leaves to roof their cottages. When Haggerty sent pictures to tropical plant specialists, he found out that its botanical name is Pandanus candelabrum.