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

by Amy Stewart

Jonathon Rosen (Illustrator)

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Book cover for Wicked Plants

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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.

  • ISBN10 0761169458
  • ISBN13 9780761169451
  • Publish Date 21 May 2009 (first published 1 May 2009)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Imprint Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
  • Format eBook
  • Language English