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Amy N Stewart Literary nonfiction & nature writer

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

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Amazon.com

  hardcover
Amazon.com

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  hardcover
Barnes & Noble

Powell's Books

  hardcover
Powell's Books
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Synopsis:

A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You’ll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother).

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

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Topics/Categories:

Botany, History, Plants, poison

Genre:

Cultural History, Food and Drink, Garden, General Food and Drink, History

Type of Work:

Book

Publishers:

Algonquin Books

Awards:

NPR Best Summer Read

Original Publish Date:

May 21, 2009