The Devil's Garden The World's Most Sinister Plants and Fungi

About this book

A lively exploration of the poisoners, tricksters, stingers, stinkers and invaders of the plant world and how their lives intertwine with ours.

Some plants and fungi – those we cultivate in farms, gardens and allotments – are pretty, useful or edible. Others are more troublesome: poisonous, or with painful stings, sinister looks or foul smells. In the medieval mind, these would be the flowers of the devil, planted on earth to torment humankind. The infamous death cap mushroom, innocent-looking but lethal. The monstrous corpse flower, with a stench to match its name. The mandrake, said to scream if uprooted.

In this deeply insightful and unflinching read, naturalist and conservationist Peter Marren explores the world's 'worst' plants and fungi and the ways they maim, murder and make mischief to get by. These species have rich histories, steeped in folklore and superstition, but there are also biological reasons behind why they are the way they are. Step into the devil's garden and discover their stories, amusing as they are unexpected and gripping as they are horrifying.

Contents

Foreword by Richard Mabey
Prologue

POISON
1. The Poison Garden
2. Shades of Night
3. The Death of Socrates
4. Toadstool

PAIN
5. The Thorny Waste
6. Grasping the Nettle
7. Here Comes the Sun

FEAR
8. The Devil's Own
9. Ghosts
10. Granny Greenteeth
11. The Scream of the Mandrake

NIGHTMARE
12. Phantasmagoria
13. Dark Dreams
14. Mushroom Magic
15. Going Mad in Jimson
16. The Barnacle Tree

BEHAVING BADLY
17. Satan's Breath
18. Plant Porn
19. The World Turned Upside Down
20. Cheats and Liars
21. Space Invaders

Epilogue
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Peter Marren is an award-winning natural history writer and conservationist. A wildlife polymath, his writings extend from journalism, obituaries, book reviews and opinion pieces to humour and news summaries for the likes of Whitaker's Almanack. He was a regular contributor to British Wildlife magazine for 33 years and is the author of more than 20 books, including Bugs Britannica, Chasing the Ghost, After They're Gone, and Mushrooms and Rare Plants in the British Wildlife Collection series.