He just nodded and did exactly what McCoy suggested, pulling on a pair of gloves before gently pulling back some petals to get a better look at the interior of the flower.

Sulu would probably later berate himself on the fact that the plant was far too unusual and the scent far too strong for the thing to just be some kind of benign (possibly poisonous to consume) plant. For the timebeing, though, Sulu didn't really think anything about touching the flower. He applied pressure, keeping a hand over his mouth just so he wouldn't inhale any pollen - that'd be smart to avoid, right?

When something roughly the texture and size of an ancient tree root suddenly tightened around his ankle and yanked him off the ground like a snare trap, Sulu decided that he really needed to start avoiding more things than just pollen.