Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty (National Geographic) [Hardcover]

Catherine H. Howell (Author), Douglas Holland (Introduction), Peter H. Raven (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: National Geographic | Publication Date: October 20, 2009

A sumptuous showcase of superb illustrations paired with fascinating stories of botanical exploration and trade through the ages, this book will be an evergreen delight. A collaboration between National Geographic and the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden, this book blossoms with legend and lore as it culls the most engrossing mysteries and adventures of plant exploration, science, and discovery and garlands them with astonishingly beautiful illustrations. The pages are abloom with the rich details and engaging allure of beloved flowers, stunning gardens, ancient trees, medicinal herbs, and valuable plants of all varieties from around the world. Unique "plant profiles" chronicle the especially remarkable roles each plant has played in matters of economics, politics, and taste. Illustrated throughout with never-before-published collectoras edition reproductions and introduced with an eloquent foreword by Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, this stunning volume will catch eyes and flower in imaginations everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description
Flora Mirabilis is a sumptuously designed showcase of superb illustrations paired with fascinating stories of botanical exploration and trade through the ages. A collaboration between National Geographic and the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden, this book will prove an evergreen source of delight, not just for gardeners and flower aficionados, but for anyone interested in the plant world, human civilization, and their intertwined histories.

From prehistory to the present day, Flora Mirabilis blossoms with legend and lore as it culls the most engrossing mysteries and adventures of plant exploration, science, and discovery and garlands them with astonishingly beautiful illustrations. These lavish pages are abloom with the rich details and engaging allure of beloved flowers, stunning gardens, ancient trees, medicinal herbs, and valuable plants of all varieties from around the world. Unique "plant profiles" chronicle the especially remarkable roles each plant has played in matters of economics, politics, and taste.

Illustrated throughout with never-before-published collector’s edition reproductions and introduced with an eloquent foreword by Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, this stunning volume will catch eyes and flower in imaginations everywhere.

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The Top 10 Plants That Shaped the World

Click on thumbnails for larger images

Black pepper Demand for this flavoring set in motion the great voyages of discovery.	Sugarcane Its sweetness begat a shameful trade in human beings and the plantation system of agriculture.	Corn A New World cultivar--maize--took over the planet and is now an all-too-common ingredient in human and animal food products.	Rubber Its special properties forever changed the face of transportation, industry, and everyday life (even though synthetics are now in wide use).	Cotton Native to both Asia and the Americas, its seedpods yield a fiber that has clothed the entire world.

Opium poppy Benefit and bane derive from its flowers, source of both morphine and heroin.	Tobacco Once regarded as a medical panacea, tobacco's highly addictive chemicals have hooked hundreds of millions over the centuries.	Potato This versatile and nutritious food plant originated in the Americas but beguiled the Irish; widespread blight led to mass starvation and flight—and emigration to America.	Coffee Roasted beans yield a beverage long at the center of urban social life, from the London coffeehouses of the 18th century, to the Parisian cafés of the 20th, to the Starbucks craze of the 21st.	Cacao Source of chocolate, from genus Theobroma, "food of the gods"--need we say more?

(Illustrations courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden Library)

About the Author

Catherine Herbert Howell has contributed to dozens of books including National Geographic's Book of Peoples of the World, Wonders of the Ancient World, and Expeditions Atlas. Howell was also the editor of the companion book to the PBS documentary “Out of Ireland.”

Peter H. Raven is recognized as one of the world’s leading botanists and advocates of conservation and biodiversity. Raven champions research around the world to preserve endangered plants.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (October 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426205090
• ISBN-13: 978-1426205095
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully designed book, December 1, 2009

By 

W. Oliver (Alabama) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty (National Geographic) (Hardcover)

Roughly translated, Flora Mirabilis means "a wonderful book of flowers" and National Geographic certainly doesn't disappoint with this beautifully designed and illustrated history of how plants have influenced our lives.

The publishers have collaborated with the Missouri Botanical Garden Library to reproduce over 200 rare botanical prints and woodcuts, beautifully illustrated on heavy gloss paper. The narrative recounts the trecherous adventures of early plant hunters who sought plants from far reaches across the globe to modern-day scientists who use plants for molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry. Sprinkled throughout the book are illustrated time-lines and individual profiles of significant plants in botanical history like wheat, rice, olive, tulip, tobacco, coffee, tomato, rose, grape, cotton, apple, potato, orchids and more.

Another reviewer noted that the chapters trail off in mid-sentence. Actually they continue after the one-page segments on individual plants. This is somewhat distracting but otherwise this is a beautifully designed book and full of fascinating information.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tried to do too much, November 23, 2009

By 

J. barry (gill,ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty (National Geographic) (Hardcover)

as you can imagine this is one enormous subject to cover in one book.
too bad some very interesting people and events were give such short mention.
the reviews of individual plants made the book worthwhile.
the print was awful small and difficult to read after a long day.
worth the price.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good introduction to the uses of plants throughout human history, November 9, 2010

By 

E. Jaksetic (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty (National Geographic) (Hardcover)

This lavishly illustrated book provides an introduction to the uses of plants by people throughout the ages, as well as insight into the efforts of many people to study, understand, and categorize plants.

The book has six chapters, with each chapter covering a particular period in history. The first chapter covers the single longest period of time, from prehistory to 1450 A.D. The five remaining chapters cover the period from 1450 A.D. to the present. The book explores the efforts, both theoretical and practical, of various people to study, understand, and categorize useful plants around the world at different times in history.

Each of the six chapters has a botanical time-line that summarizes knowledge about plants by region of the world ("Africa & Middle East"; "Asia & Oceania"; "Europe"; "The Americas") under six separate categories ("Knowledge & Science"; "Power & Wealth"; "Health & Medicine"; "Sustenance & Flavor"; "Clothing & Shelter"; and "Beauty & Symbolism"). A total of 27 major plants are discussed in separate, one-page synopses that note the origins, folklore, and uses of each plant. Numerous other useful plants are also mentioned and referred to in other parts of the book.

The book provides a multifaceted look at plants and their use by people throughout history. It is fairly readable and very informative. You do not have to be knowledgeable about plants to read and understand it.