Plant Science

The Plant Hunter's Atlas is a volume telling some of the most extraordinary tales of horticultural discovery and exploring the characters behind the stories. Taking in the world's inhabited continents and spanning the centuries, the stories range from tales of derring-do in the age of discovery to modern-day botanists working at the cutting-edge of science. The text explores how plant hunters have been inspired by everything from scientific curiosity to economic greed, and their own ingrained sense of adventure.

Have you ever wished you could be more healthy without spending a ton of extra money? Ever wondered how to make your own natural medicine? You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home. Dr Lemmon will take you on a guided tour of all your living spaces, inside and out. In Natural Home & Herbal Healing, you will learn step-by-step how to change your life by tapping into the healing remedies that are hiding in plain sight all around your home. With just a few changes, you can have more joy, energy, strength, and peace of mind than ever before.

You don’t need to be a professional landscaper to be able to grow your own thriving garden, and you definitely don’t need four acres of land to add a touch of nature to your home. Whether you’re a lifelong gardener looking for inspiration, or you’re just someone who loves being surrounded by nature, this comprehensive guide will give you everything you need to know about growing plants in small spaces with raised beds, containers, and vertical structures, so you can finally start on a gardening journey that will last a lifetime.

Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. Vividly narrated, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history.

In his follow-up to the best-selling Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori takes another trip across the globe, bringing to life the science of plants by revealing how their worlds are intricately entwined with our own history, culture and folklore. From the seemingly familiar tomato and dandelion to the eerie mandrake and Spanish 'moss' of Louisiana, each of these stories is full of surprises. Some have a troubling past, while others have ignited human creativity or enabled whole civilizations to flourish.

All of this was because of the dragon stone necklace I scavenged from that dead mage. I knew it was magic when I saw it. Well, it was and it wasn’t. Dragon stone, they call it, but what it actually is, is a dragon’s egg. When I touched it, I felt the need to put it around my neck for safekeeping. When I did, the necklace embedded itself inside my skin, making me the new dragon’s envoy. It has since been my duty to protect the egg until she’s ready to hatch. How do I know the egg is a she? Easy, she talks to me and is helping me to bring out my natural magic talents.

Jailed as a scapegoat for Stalin's famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collected hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity. Gary Paul Nabhan weaves together Vavilov's story with his own expeditions to Earth's richest agricultural landscapes and the cultures that tend them.

Dragon’s Envoy David Slinger, Em, and their friends continue to face new challenges and opportunities. But with new opportunities, old rivals and animosities return. They must also remain vigilant to the growing threat of the dark priests and their thirst for power. It seems very few can be trusted, as everyone has their own agenda.

In The Nation of Plants, the most important, widespread, and powerful nation on Earth finally gets to speak. Like attentive parents, plants, after making it possible for us to live, have come to our aid once again, giving us their rules: the first Universal Declaration of Rights of Living Beings written by the plants. A short charter based on the general principles that regulate the common life of plants, it establishes norms applicable to all living beings.

As a child, Chris Thorogood dreamed of seeing Rafflesia - the plant with the world's largest flowers. Today he is a botanist at the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden and has dedicated his life to studying the biology of such extraordinary plants, working alongside botanists and foresters in Southeast Asia to document these huge, mysterious blooms. Pathless Forest is the story of his journey to study and protect this remarkable plant - a biological enigma, still little understood, which invades vines as a leafless parasite and steals its food from them.

As Brits we pride ourselves as stoic defenders, boasting a record of resistance dating back to 1066. Yet, even a cursory examination of the natural world reveals that while interlopers of the human variety may have been kept at bay, our islands have been invaded, conquered and settled by an endless succession of animals, plants, fungi and other alien lifeforms that apparently belong elsewhere. Indeed it’s often hard to work out what actually is native, and what is foreign.

Historias humanas y hallazgos científicos que dan una visión completa del complejo mundo químico que atesoran las plantas. No existe nada tan falaz como la mansedumbre de una planta. Acostumbrados a su liviana y silenciosa compañía, narcotizados por los colores y los aromas que gritan sus flores, en pocas ocasiones somos conscientes de que estamos ante los más expertos alquimistas de la naturaleza. El mundo vegetal oculta prodigiosas sustancias que pueden mitigar el dolor y el sufrimiento humano, capaces de curar enfermedades y, a la vez, arrancarnos la vida en un suspiro.

Today there is no place on Earth that does not harbor invasive exotic species. Invasive plants and animals can be found on every continent, including Antarctica, and within all waterbodies, including all oceans. This Very Short Introduction provides a clear definition of an invasive species, and considers the myriad ways they are moved around the globe, and the ecological, social, and economic impacts they often impose.

From the chance to live on this planet to the pleasure of listening to the sound of a violin—every story begins with a plant. We animals account for a paltry 0.3% of the planet's biomass while plants add up to 85%. It is obvious that every story on this planet has a plant as its protagonist. Our world is a green world; Earth is the planet of plants. Neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso is back with a book to tell us about the greenprint of our world. He does it through unforgettable stories starring plants; stories combining an inimitable narrative style and remarkable scientific rigor.

Welcome to the world of psychotropic plants - plants that can affect your mental state! Across the globe, there has been a long tradition of using such plants for fun, for spiritual purposes, for self-exploration, for healing and sometimes for nefarious purposes. There’s a colourful spectrum of psychotropic plants and in the Psychotropic Plants audiobook, you’ll get an opportunity to explore plants at both ends of this spectrum, from the sedatives to the potent hallucinogenics.

Our ecological, social, and political issues all stem from the ideologies that drive our collective actions. In contrast to our innate humanity, which is rooted in unity, these ideologies have led us to believe that we are separate from each other, separate from nature, and separate from the results of our actions. Such a worldview encourages individuals to maximize self-interest, which then causes fragmentation, conflict, pollution, and the depletion of natural resources.

Collections of preserved plant specimens, known as herbaria, have existed for nearly five centuries. These pressed and labeled plants have been essential resources for scientists, allowing them to describe and differentiate species and to document and research plant changes and biodiversity over time—including changes related to climate. Maura C. Flannery tells the history of herbaria, from the earliest collections belonging to such advocates of the technique as sixteenth-century botanist Luca Ghini, to the collections of poets, politicians, and painters, and to the digitization today.

Living in the Northeast means that you will constantly be surrounded by beautiful landscapes and experience all that the four seasons have to offer. However, while the Northeast can be beautiful, searching for medicinal plants in the Northeast can come with its own challenges, especially if you don't have a lot of experience. This book will be your guide and walk you through the process to find, prepare, and take in medicinal plants step by step. The Northeast can be a challenging area to understand, but I promise it provides a bountiful array of medical wonders.

The "My First Encyclopedia Set" series takes you on a journey through time, immersing you in the era of dinosaurs, allowing you to sense the power of life, and experience the fascinating realm of science.

Have you ever wondered why the leaves of the Swiss cheese plant have holes? How aloe vera came to be harnessed as a medicinal powerhouse? Or why—despite your best efforts—you can’t keep your Venus flytrap alive? You are not alone: houseplant expert Jane Perrone has asked herself those very questions, and in Legends of the Leaf she digs deep beneath the surface to reveal the answers.