Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
Amy Stewart's new book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, has a fantastic cover. The book seems terrific, too!
A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations. It's an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You'll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother).Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical AtrocitiesMenacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.
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Mark Frauenfelder
My latest book, Made by Hand, now in paperback. Follow me on Twitter.
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