Scan barcode
A review by cswrawr
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
Based on the title and description, I was expecting this book to be stories of how plants had dire effects in historical contexts. In reality, it's a list of plants with descriptions and symptoms. There were a few references to chemical warfare and yes, a couple of sentences about Lincoln's mom but this really wasn't the book I was looking for.
The illustrations, while lovely and inventive, are minimal and few and far between so I did have to frequently stop reading and turn to google to figure out what a plant looks like.
That being said, it did get across how we underestimate the dangers which could be posed by the plants around us through to me right in the introduction. Just a couple weeks before I checked this book out from the library, I had picked up moonflower seeds on a whim. Big white flower on the front of the packet sitting right by the store register, just 20 cents! I won't be growing them.
The illustrations, while lovely and inventive, are minimal and few and far between so I did have to frequently stop reading and turn to google to figure out what a plant looks like.
That being said, it did get across how we underestimate the dangers which could be posed by the plants around us through to me right in the introduction. Just a couple weeks before I checked this book out from the library, I had picked up moonflower seeds on a whim. Big white flower on the front of the packet sitting right by the store register, just 20 cents! I won't be growing them.