Flora Curiosa: Cryptobotany, Mysterious Fungi, Sentient Trees, and Deadly Plants in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy [Paperback]

Chad Arment (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2008

Flora Curiosa compiles twenty classic botanical (and mycological) short stories from science fiction and fantasy. Stories include Rappaccini's Daughter (Hawthorne), The American's Tale (Doyle), The Man-Eating Tree (Robinson), The Balloon Tree (Mitchell), The Flowering of the Strange Orchid (H. G. Wells), The Treasure in the Forest (H. G. Wells), The Purple Pileus (H. G. Wells), The Purple Terror (White), A Vine on a House (Bierce), Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant (Garis), The Willows (Blackwood), The Voice in the Night (Hodgson), The Orchid Horror (Blunt), The Man Whom the Trees Loved (Blackwood), The Pavilion (Nesbit), The Sumach (Daubeny), The Green Death (McNeile), Si Urag of the Tail (Cook), Green Thoughts (Collier), and The Walk to Lingham (Dunsany).

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Coachwhip Publications (August 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193058556X
• ISBN-13: 978-1930585560
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #346,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Phantasmagorical Flora and Fungi, March 31, 2010

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Dino Dan (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Flora Curiosa: Cryptobotany, Mysterious Fungi, Sentient Trees, and Deadly Plants in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy (Paperback)

Another collection of classic fiction from Coachwhip Publications, featuring tales of plants and fungus. Their publications range from 1844 to 1934, mostly from the decade before and after 1900.

My favorite tales were H.G. Wells' 'The Flowering of the Strange Orchid', 'The Voice in the Night' by William Hope Hodgson (about a terrible fungus-infested island) and Ulric Daubeny's 'The Sumach', about a vampiric tree. 'The Voice in the Night' may have been the inspiration for the Japanese horror film 'Matango'.

There's even a murder mystery, 'The Green Death' by H.C. McNeile. A variation of the murder-in-a-locked-room, with an interesting set of clues given before the perpetrator is revealed.

There are a number of other stories, not always of hostile or dangerous plantlife. More humorous tales include another H.G. Wells' story 'The Purple Pileus', 'Green Thoughts' by John Collier (similar to, and perhaps the inspiration for, 'The Little Shop of Horrors' film). There's also unusual tales such as Edward page Mitchell's 'The Balloon Tree' (featuring a seeming benevolent floating tree), Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Rappaccini's Daughter' (definitely of a 'toxic relationship', and Ambrose Bierce's 'A Vine on a House'.

'The Willows' and 'The Man Whom the Trees Loved', both by Algernon Blackwood, are almost interminable reads. They just keep going on and on. The latter tale is interesting, but if both tales had been cut in half it would've greatly improved their readability.

Overall, there are some truly interesting stories included in this collection. Most feature dangerous carnivorous plants (with different interpretations). However, there are humorous, fantastic, and borderline supernatural tales, for variety.