The Plant Hunter
The Plant Hunter

Author: Cassandra Leah Quave

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2022-06-14

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1984879138

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The uplifting, adventure-filled memoir of one groundbreaking scientist’s quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants. “A fascinating and deeply personal journey.” ­—Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants and The Drunken Botanist Traveling by canoe, ATV, mule, airboat, and on foot, Dr. Cassandra Quave has conducted field research everywhere from the flooded forests of the remote Amazon to the isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo—all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs. Dr. Quave is a leading medical ethnobotanist—someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat antimicrobial resistance and other threatening illnesses—helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she's done it all with just one leg. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey.

Plant-hunting in China
Plant-hunting in China

Author: Euan Hillhouse Methven Cox

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13:

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This is a fascinating account of the history of plant collecting in China by western botanists from the seventeenth century to the middle of the 1950s. Many of the most popular flowers in European gardens originated when early missionaries and traders brought home some of the finest forms of Chinese flora. In the modern period, the major collectors made thoroughly organized searches to secure plants that would grace European and American gardens. This edition contains a new introduction by the author's son, Peter Cox, a knowledgeable horticulturist and author of numerous articles and books on horticultural subjects. The text is complemented by photos and maps.

The Plant Hunters
The Plant Hunters

Author: Anita Silvey

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Published: 2015-12-15

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 1466895292

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Driven by an all-consuming passion, the plant hunters traveled around the world, facing challenges at every turn: tropical illnesses, extreme terrain, and dangerous animals. They battled piranhas, tigers, and vampire bats. Even the plants themselves could be lethal! But these intrepid eighteenth- and nineteenth-century explorers were determined to find and collect new and unusual specimens, no matter what the cost. Then they tried to transport the plants—and themselves—home alive. Creating an important legacy in science, medicine, and agriculture, the plant hunters still inspire the scientific and environmental work of contemporary plant enthusiasts. Working from primary sources—journals, letters, and notes from the field—Anita Silvey introduces us to these daring adventurers and scientists. She takes readers into the heart of their expeditions to then-uncharted places such as the Amazon basin, China, and India. As she brings a colorful cast of characters to life, she shows what motivated these Indiana Jones–type heroes. In The Plant Hunters, science, history, and adventure have been interwoven to tell a largely forgotten—yet fascinating—story.

The Plant-Hunter's Atlas
The Plant-Hunter's Atlas

Author: Ambra Edwards

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2021-05-27

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1529410126

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RHS Staff Pick of the Year 2021 Spectator Gardening Book of the year 2021 'A refreshingly insightful history of plant introductions.' - Roy Lancaster Travel the world with extraordinary tales of the botanical discoveries that have shaped empires, built (and destroyed) economies, revolutionised medicine and advanced our understanding of science. Circling the globe from Australia's Botany Bay to the Tibetan plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this book presents an incredible cast of characters - dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the 'Green Samurai' Mikinori Ogisu and the intrepid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian - the first woman known to have made a living from science. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 botanical artworks from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this absorbing book tells the stories of how plants have travelled across the world - from the missions of the Pharaohs right up to 21st century seed-banks and the many new and endangered species being named every year. *** THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW is a world-famous research organisation and a major international visitor attraction. It harnesses the power of its science, the rich diversity of its gardens and collections to unearth why plants and fungi matter to everyone. Its aspiration is to end the extinction crisis and help create a world where nature and biodiversity are protected, valued and managed sustainably.

The Last Great Plant Hunt
The Last Great Plant Hunt

Author: Carolyn Fry

Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781842464328

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As humans adapt to a changing climate and planet, there is a pressing need for wild plant seed banks, and an urgent effort to conserve all plant diversity. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank is a unique, global asset. The largest seed bank of its kind in the world dedicated to wild plant species, it contains the world's most diverse seed collections. Over the past 10 years more than 3.5 billion seeds from nearly 25,000 species have been collected and stored in seed banks both in their country of origin and in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. In October 2009 Kew's Millennium Seed Bank celebrated collecting, banking and conserving 10% of the world's wild plant species and the partnership now spans more than 120 institutions in 54 countries. The Last Great Plant Hunt describes the importance of seed collecting and the work of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the process of collecting and taking care of seeds, the uses of banked seed, and the future of seed conservation worldwide. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written.

The Plant-Hunter's Atlas
The Plant-Hunter's Atlas

Author: Ambra Edwards

Publisher: Greenfinch

Published: 2021-05-27

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1529410126

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RHS Staff Pick of the Year 2021 Spectator Gardening Book of the year 2021 'A refreshingly insightful history of plant introductions.' - Roy Lancaster Travel the world with extraordinary tales of the botanical discoveries that have shaped empires, built (and destroyed) economies, revolutionised medicine and advanced our understanding of science. Circling the globe from Australia's Botany Bay to the Tibetan plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this book presents an incredible cast of characters - dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the 'Green Samurai' Mikinori Ogisu and the intrepid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian - the first woman known to have made a living from science. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 botanical artworks from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this absorbing book tells the stories of how plants have travelled across the world - from the missions of the Pharaohs right up to 21st century seed-banks and the many new and endangered species being named every year. *** THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW is a world-famous research organisation and a major international visitor attraction. It harnesses the power of its science, the rich diversity of its gardens and collections to unearth why plants and fungi matter to everyone. Its aspiration is to end the extinction crisis and help create a world where nature and biodiversity are protected, valued and managed sustainably.