The Big, Bad Book of Botany: The World's Most Fascinating Flora

Largo, Michael

ISBN 10: 0062282751 / ISBN 13: 9780062282750

Editore: William Morrow & Company, 2014

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Codice articolo G0062282751I4N00

Riassunto:

"A wild ride through the plant world.”--The American Gardener

An entertaining and enlightening compendium of the world's most amazing and bizarre plants, revealing their secrets, history, and lore

What happens when you give a plant a polygraph test? Can a flower really turn a human into a zombie? What gives the gingko tree its stink? The Big, Bad Book of Botany holds the incredible answers to all of these questions and more. From absinthe to zubrowka (a popular ingredient in Polish vodkas), award-winning author Michael Largo takes you through the historical and agricultural evolution of hundreds of plant species, revealing astonishing facts along the way. You'll be introduced to magic mushrooms, superfoods, and toxic teas. You'll learn about plants so valuable they have started international wars, so evolved they can trick animals into helping them survive, and so deadly a single taste of one will kill you. Featuring more than one hundred and forty illustrations, this fascinating and fun A-to-Z encyclopedia for all ages will transform the way you look at the natural world.

Did you know?

• The word hashish comes from the Arabic hashshashin, the name for a group of Persian assassins who were given the drug to calm their nerves before each assignment.

• The fossil of the oldest-known tree to have thrived on the planet was found in New York's Catskill Mountains, and dates back to more than 360 million years ago.

• The avocado, though delicious to humans, is toxic to most animals.

• Sunflowers grow according to a mathematical formula known as the "golden ratio," and almost always produce exactly 55 or 144 seeds.

Featuring more than 150 photographs and illustrations, The Big, Bad Book of Botany is a fascinating, fun A-to-Z encyclopedia for all ages that will transform the way we look at the natural world.

Informazioni sull'autore:

Michael Largo is the author of The Big, Bad Book of Beasts; God's Lunatics; Genius and Heroin; and the Bram Stoker Award-winning Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die, as well as three novels. He and his family live in Florida with their dog, two turtles, a parrot, two canaries, and a tank of fish.

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: The Big, Bad Book of Botany: The World's ...
Casa editrice: William Morrow & Company
Data di pubblicazione: 2014
Legatura: Paperback
Condizione: Very Good
Condizione sovraccoperta: No Jacket