38 Products

Challenging the view of plants as passive vegetation, Mabey approaches them as ’authors of their own lives’ and explores our relationship with them, from prehistoric cave painting, through cultivation and exploration to the ‘astonishing revelations of 19th-century botany’. Among the intriguing plants whose lives he discusses are the baobab tree; ginseng, the panacea; the carnivorous tipitiwitchet; an Amazonian giant water lily whose leaves were the model for the Crystal Place; and the intelligence of mimosa.

An ornithologist and a botanical artist, Mike and Liz Fraser lived at the Cape for twelve years, marvelling at the wild flowers and retracing the journeys of the first European plant hunters to visit this ‘botanical treasurehouse’. Illustrated with drawings, watercolours and colour photographs, their book begins with the early Portuguese and Dutch explorers and includes Kew’s first international collector, Francis Masson, as it follows the history of botany and botanical exploration at the Cape up to present-day research at Kirstenbosch.

Jim Endersby explores ‘the curious and unexpected variety of significances that people have ascribed to orchids’ in western cultures, from Theophrastus’ herbals in ancient Greece to Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, deadly species in science-fiction and ongoing research into Spider Orchids on the South Downs. The book looks at our relationship with orchids in terms of science, sex and death, and examines the theme of empire, describing how European imperial expansion and wealth stimulated the search for ever rarer orchids.

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership comprises more than 120 plant science institutions in 50 countries and has collected and stored seeds from one in ten of the world’s plant species. This book gives a richly illustrated account of the global network dedicated to conserving plant species for future generations.

Between 1899 and 1911, EH Wilson (1876–1930), the foremost plant hunter of his generation, travelled extensively in China. Initially searching for the dove tree, Davidia involucrata, he eventually collected and introduced many hundreds of plants into western gardens and arboreta. A century after Wilson, Flanagan and Kirkham, two modern-day plant hunters, retraced his routes to the high passes and exotic species of western China, often matching Wilson’s photographs of remarkable trees and landscapes with their own then-and-now images.

Famed for cultivating plants from around the world, Kew Gardens is also home to many uncultivated species. Drawing on historic citations and herbarium specimen records, this illustrated catalogue lists all native and alien flora documented growing wild at Kew since its foundation in 1759.

In close-up photographs of flowers and their pollinators, the wildlife photographer Heather Angel reveals the key floral parts which aid reproduction and shows precisely how and where pollen is transferred to particular visitors. Taken in Kew Gardens, her own garden in Surrey and 20 different countries, the photographs include studies of wind pollination as well as bees, blister beetles and butterflies, a honey possum and many different birds, all captured in the act of pollinating. Slightly off-mint.

Starting his career as assistant-surgeon aboard HMS Erebus as it set off on a four-year scientific expedition to the Antarctic, Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) is now recognized as one of the founding fathers of botany. This concise, richly illustrated account traces his life and travels and discusses some of the hundreds of plants he collected and identified.

After briefly explaining the classification of plants, this introduction to the world’s flora comprises descriptions of more than 100 flowering plant (angiosperm) families, arranged alphabetically within two groups: the dicotyledons and the monocotyledons. For each family, the text presents a botanical description along with information on distribution and economic uses, while colour artworks and captions illustrate the plants’ key features. The book ends with a glossary and an index of common and scientific names.

A celebratory anthology of plants and flowers, this Florilegium was created by today’s botanical artists to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. Australia’s extraordinary flora has beguiled botanists and plant collectors since Sir Joseph Banks, who arrived in Sydney Cove in 1770, and each of the 85 plants depicted in this volume is accompanied by notes on its history, including early admirers among plant hunters, as well as a botanical description.

The cyclamen is one of the most ubiquitous houseplants and, for a genus comprising just 23 species, it has attracted a disproportionate amount of attention from horticulturalists and botanical illustrators. This comprehensive survey explains the plant's botany and structure, its natural habitats, its history of cultivation, and its representation in the arts and crafts. Watercolours illustrate the rich variety of foliage and flower that have contributed to its popularity.

The botanist Ben-Erik van Wyk presents a fully illustrated, scientific guide to nearly all the commercial herbs and spices in use today. After chapters on the history of spices and culinary traditions and lists of common names, the A to Z covers over 150 species, from Aframomum corrorima (Ethiopian cardamom) to Zingiber officinale (ginger), each illustrated entry giving details of the spice or herb, the plant, its origins, cultivation and culinary use and the chemistry of its flavour.

Illustrated with more than 200 colour photographs, this book profiles every type of tree, native or introduced, growing in the British Isles. The first section lists all the species by their botanical names, with their origins and characteristics, while the second is a guide to visiting the finest specimens throughout Britain and Ireland, by region and county.

From the Alcoholic Agave, remarkable for its nine-metre high flower as well as its intoxicating sap, to Zoophilous plants and their cunning ways of attracting animal pollinators, this is an A–Z of botanical heroes, villains and eccentrics. The heroes are explorers and botanists such as Charles Darwin and EH Wilson; the villains include the deadly castor oil plant, described under U for Umbrella Assassinations. Slightly off-mint.

The Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures have been televised since 1966. Introduced by David Attenborough, this selection explores the mysteries of human and animal behaviour, and includes talks by Desmond Morris, Richard Dawkins and Sue Hartley.

Planting at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, began in the 1850s and the site is now home to thousands of native and exotic trees and shrubs. Through over 500 images, this photographic portfolio reveals the natural beauty of the gardens and parkland throughout the seasons.

Since the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, scientists have been intrigued by the nutritional, medicinal and decorative potential of plants. Societies have revolved around the trade in spices, fruit and vegetables, and fortunes have been made from it. Illustrated with historical engravings, lithographs and hand-coloured botanical illustrations, this volume celebrates the investigation, appreciation and exploitation of plants through the ages, the lives and adventures of the plant-hunters, and the books that document their discoveries.

With over 200 photographs, renowned wildlife photographer Bob Gibbons presents his personal pick of the world’s most ‘flowery’ places for armchair readers and travellers alike. From clovers on the Lizard Peninsula to the home of the tulip in Kazakhstan’s Tien Shan Mountains, each location is accompanied by a map, information on local ecology and conservation status, and details of animals in the region. All sites are accessible and some visitor information is included alongside useful websites.

Visiting trees with names like ‘The Monarch’ and ‘Old Knobbley’, Archie Miles’s richly illustrated book combines profiles of 50 famous old oaks with an overview of the oak tree in British culture, society and economy. There are chapters on the history of the oak, its place in myth and folklore, art and literature, and its vital role in building and ship-building, but also in many smaller industries, from tanning and pannage (pigs foraging for acorns) to charcoal burning and fish smoking.

Originally an Alpine perennial with medicinal uses, auricula flowers were so colourful and fragrant that people began cultivating the plant purely for pleasure. Easy to propagate and maintain, over the centuries increasing numbers of varieties were produced, 200 of which are listed here with many accompanying photographs. Including advice on exhibiting, dealing with pests and diseases and a fascinating history of the plant, this is a useful reference for casual readers and enthusiasts alike.

One of humankind’s oldest companions, the hawthorn tree is embedded in the memory of every culture across the northern hemisphere. This informative book explores the little-recognized political, cultural and natural history of the plant. Its fruits made the first wine, its flowers and thorns played a key role in pagan and Christian symbolism, and for thousands of years it was used to create the impenetrable hedges that have shaped the landscape of Europe.

This authoritative pocket guide identifies 530 of the most widespread and eye-catching flowering plants growing around the Mediterranean. The key is divided by flower colour, number of petals, and plants with inconspicuous flowers like trees and ferns. Illustrated with large-format colour photos, each entry includes common and scientific names, and describes plant uses, habitats and similar species.

Orchids are among the most diverse groups of plants and although many varieties grow in the British Isles, including Lady's Slipper and Ghost Orchid, two of the rarest native wildflowers, most are in retreat in the face of environmental changes. This pocket guide includes detailed descriptions and information for all 52 species that grow wild in Britain and Ireland with colour photographs and distribution maps.

Presented in a sturdy, drawer-type box, these large postcards (160x115mm) feature 30 different designs based on illustrations in the RHS Lindley Library. While most of the postcards depict two or more peonies in shades of white, pink and red and a variety of butterflies, a few have an all-over design of smaller flowers and butterflies.

This magnificently illustrated volume celebrates a convergence of disciplines – art, science and education – that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to produce the botanical wall chart. Arranged alphabetically by plant family, from Amaryllis to Vitaceae (Grape), and reproduced in colour, with texts examining their pedagogical use and their historical, botanical and artistic contexts, this collection of around 120 charts from countries across the world represents some of the finest botanical illustration of the period.

Norfolk is rich in woodlands, many of which have been traditionally managed for centuries, but this account of the county's ancient trees is of more than local interest: it is an exploration of how trees can be studied as part of the landscape. Among the topics discussed are the dating of trees; trees of farmland and hedgerow; woods and wood- pastures; orchards, pine rows and willow lines; and how trees have been used in parks, gardens and churchyards.

Long before the corn poppy became associated with remembrance of the First World War through John McCrae's poem 'In Flanders Fields', it had grown wherever ground was broken by conflict, cultivation or burial. The opium poppy has a different affinity with war, alleviating the suffering of its victims and inciting battles over its control. In this history of the iconic plant, the author explores its differing uses and associations, from the remedies of the Ancient Egyptians to the narcotics trade in present-day Afghanistan.

A Botanical Magazine Monograph, this illustrated volume covers the distribution, history, conservation, classification and cultivation of Calluna, Daboecia and those Erica species growing naturally in the northern hemisphere.

More than any other foraged wild food, mushrooms need to be confidently identified to avoid the poisonous varieties. This guide gives detailed descriptions and colour photographs of the 158 most common British and European mushrooms. It describes where they are likely to be found and also includes an explanation of mushroom anatomy so that key features of different species can be accurately assessed.

Challenging the view of plants as passive vegetation, Mabey approaches them as ’authors of their own lives’ and explores our relationship with them, from prehistoric cave painting, through cultivation and exploration to the ‘astonishing revelations of 19th-century botany’. Among the intriguing plants whose lives he discusses are the baobab tree; ginseng, the panacea; the carnivorous tipitiwitchet; an Amazonian giant water lily whose leaves were the model for the Crystal Place; and the intelligence of mimosa.

The photographer Gareth Rees-Roberts first visited 'The Big Orchard' at Knapton on a March day; in the summer he returned to see how the great avenues – 60 acres of large apple – had changed, and resolved to photograph the orchard through a whole year. From a clear, frosty January, through the annual pruning in February and blossom in May to harvesting fallen apples in November, these 136 photographs record a year in the life of a wonderful old orchard.

Our countryside and coasts provide an astonishing array of edible plants and fungi. With colour paintings from a botanical artist at Kew Gardens, this updated edition of a foraging guide originally published in 1980 identifies 100 plants, from Chanterelle to Ramsons (Wild Garlic) and Fennel to Rock Samphire. It provides practical information on where and when each species can be found, recounts any associated folklore and offers 400 recipes for soups, sauces, salads, pickles, jams, teas and infusions.

Focusing on eight different mountain regions in Japan, Australasia, the Americas, Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and China and the Himalayas, Richard Wilford explores the geography, history and cultivation of alpine plants. Illustrated with botanical paintings, photographs of landscape and flowers, and with maps, the book explains how plants such as aubretia, gentian, saxifrage and fritillaries arrived in British gardens, and tells the stories of the plant hunters who searched for and collected them.

First published in 2003 and revised and updated in 2013, this was the first fully illustrated and mapped guide to British and Irish wild flora. It covers more than 1,900 species, with over 5,000 detailed paintings by the renowned botanical artist Marjorie Blamey and over 1,600 distribution maps. As well as flowering plants, the guide has chapters on grasses, rushes and ferns, aquatic plants, and local specialities of West Cornwall, the Scilly Isles and Ireland.