Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty.

Lavishly illustrated with more than 200 rare and exquisite botanical prints, the book is a celebratory work, tracing the links between plants and human civilisation.

From the garden of Aristotle, with specimens collected by Alexander the Great, to medicinal potions in medieval monasteries, to intrepid expeditions in the far reaches of the world, Flora Mirablilis traces the many ways plants have satisfied age-old human longings for health and wealth, beauty and knowledge. It is a tale of passion and adventure as well as a fascinating history of plants and the powerful role they have played in human life.

Individual plant profiles, each with an accompanying time line, relate the role played by 27 of the plants most critical to human history as well as their impact on human activities.

Hardcover
255 pages with many colour plates and illustrations
9781426205095