The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species

Author(s): Carlos Magdalena

Natural Environment

"A thrilling and inspirational account of adventures in the botanical world" (Wall Street Journal)


 


Carlos Magdalena is not your average horticulturist. He's a man on a mission to save the world's most endangered plants. First captivated by the flora of his native Spain, he has travelled to the remotest parts of the globe in search of exotic species. Renowned for his pioneering work, he has committed his life to protecting plants from man-made ecological destruction and thieves hunting for wealthy collectors.


 


In The Plant Messiah, Magdalena takes readers from the Amazon to the jungles of Mauritius to deep within the Australian Outback in search of the rare and the vulnerable. Back in the lab, we watch as he develops groundbreaking, left-field techniques for rescuing species from extinction, encouraging them to propagate and thrive once again. Along the way, he offers moving, heartfelt stories about the secrets contained within these incredible organisms.


 


Passionate and absorbing, The Plant Messiah is a tribute to the diversity of life on our planet, and the importance of preserving it.


 


*Featuring 16 pages of color photos*


Product Information

This full-throttle memoir is a window on the exploits that underpin the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . . . reveals the rare mix of zeal and patience needed to hunt vanishing plants * Nature * Impressive, gripping and important . . . Some 30,000 plants have recorded uses for humans. Most people, the messiah preaches, are blind to these everyday miracles. This book will teach them to see * Economist * An engaging piece of work -- Charles Elliott * Literary Review * Eye-popping... The Plant Messiah reads like a detective novel. [This] is a thrillingly uplifting book. There is a beguiling energy to his prose that clearly he has in person * Daily Mail * Botany, on its face, doesn't sound particularly thrilling. This book will change your mind -- Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of 'Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet' and 'Radio Free Vermont' An entertaining, planterly romp around the world and a glimpse inside one of the world's great botanical institutions from this Kew botanist -- Jane Owen * Financial Times * Carlos Magdalena is Kew's codebreaker * Telegraph * Carlos is an inspiration to me. He's the perfect spokesperson for the plants of the world -- Jane Goodall, primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace Carlos has been able to achieve things with plants that no one else can do -- Richard Barley, director of horticulture, Kew He has the uncanny ability to bring plants back from the brink of extinction * People of London *

Carlos Magdalena is Botanical Horticulturist in the Tropical Nursery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, an international lecturer, and Chairman of the International Waterlily & Water Gardens Society. He is renowned for his unique skills as a plant propagator who is saving the world's rarest plants.

General Fields

  • : 9780241979297
  • : Penguin Books, Limited
  • : Viking
  • : 0.194
  • : March 2018
  • : 198mm X 129mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : April 2018
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Carlos Magdalena
  • : 224
  • : 333.95/316
  • : English
  • : 1
  • : Paperback