Around the world in 80 plants

This plant reference has all the perfect descriptors; it's charming, erudite, educational, and aesthetically pleasing. English author, producer, and former trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Drori offers this companion to his Around the World in 80 Trees (2018) that could convert even non--green aficionados into avid plant watchers. Accompanied by French artist Lucille Clerc's almost Audubon-like illustrations, Drori raves first about the power of green things and shares some little-known statistics, like the one stating that half of the world's calories emanate from wheat, rice, and maize. And with very British drollness and an arsenal of arcane yet intriguing facts, he introduces the reader to a world of cool information. Rhododendron, from Scotland, sports poisonous flowers. The dandelion originated in Estonia. Tulip comes from the Turkish for turban. Marilyn Monroe was the first honorary artichoke queen in 1948. In Tasmania, the opium poppy is legally produced. And at the last, he plugs: "If you have enjoyed this book, may I cheekily suggest its sibling?" Readers will pick Plants up, time and again, in observation and wonder. Includes a list of "Where to go next?" and other resources.

Drori (Around the World in 80 Trees), a former trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, again masterfully blends science, history, and culture in this globe-spanning introduction to botany. In 80 illustrated chapters, Drori provides the evolutionary origins of familiar plants (the banana, for instance, is "an ancient hybrid of two wild species that still grow in South East Asia, with small, unappetizing fruit"), along with surprising revelations (the artichoke does not exist in the wild, but was bred from the thistle family) and introductions to obscure vegetation such as the tree tumbo, which Charles Darwin dubbed "the platypus of the plant world." Drori also delves into how fruits have been used in rituals in different societies and faiths, and describes wedding garlands made of shrubs that are sacred to Greek goddesses, validating his introductory remarks that most of the entries "reveal as much about people as they do about plants." Witty prose ("The nettle's separate male and female plants are an understated couple") is a further plus. An accessible and colorful volume, this will charm even readers who know little about the plant-world. (Apr.)