Chasing Plants: Journeys with a Botanist through Rainforests, Swamps, and Mountains

Botanist Thorogood (Perfectly Peculiar Plants) combines his two lifelong passions, painting and plants, in this marvelous account of his travels around the globe. The author remembers being “entranced by living things as a kid,” a sentiment that continued well into his adulthood as he traveled to South Africa to hunt Hydnora (a parasitic plant that has vampire-like fangs); went looking for dragon arums, which smell like “crawling through a sewer,” in Crete; and visited Israel in search of the Nazareth iris, which “has an artless beauty far superior” to cultivated flowers. While recounting a trip to Borneo, Thorogood muses that “even paradise is afflicted by typhoons,” a reflection that broadens into a consideration of climate change. He notes that, worldwide, two in five plant species are on the verge of going extinct, yet their “plight” remains mostly unseen and ignored. Even so, he describes how plants seem to be incredibly resilient and surprising as they adapt to their environmental conditions by, for example, growing water-repellent or water-collecting leaves. The realistic oil paintings that appear throughout are a testament to Thorogood’s careful attention to the flora, and the vivid descriptions will make readers feel like they’re on the hunt with him. This will be catnip for plant lovers. (Sept.)