Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781426205095)

Flora Mirabilis is a sumptuously designed showcase of superb illustrations paired with fascinating stories of botanical exploration and trade through the ages. A collaboration between National Geographic and the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden, this book will prove an evergreen source of delight, not just for gardeners and flower aficionados, but for anyone interested in the plant world, human civilization, and their intertwined histories.

From prehistory to the present day, Flora Mirabilis blossoms with legend and lore as it culls the most engrossing mysteries and adventures of plant exploration, science, and discovery and garlands them with astonishingly beautiful illustrations. These lavish pages are abloom with the rich details and engaging allure of beloved flowers, stunning gardens, ancient trees, medicinal herbs, and valuable plants of all varieties from around the world. Unique "plant profiles" chronicle the especially remarkable roles each plant has played in matters of economics, politics, and taste.

Illustrated throughout with never-before-published collector's edition reproductions and introduced with an eloquent foreword by Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, this stunning volume will catch eyes and flower in imaginations everywhere.

Author: Catherine H. Howell
ISBN-10: 1426205090
ISBN-13: 9781426205095
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Language: English
Published: 10/20/2009
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.29lbs
Size: 10.28h x 7.82w x 0.93d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2010
Scitech Book News 06/01/2010 pg. 52