Flower Hunters

by Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin

From the Douglas-fir and the monkey puzzle tree to exotic orchids and azaleas, many of the plants that are now familiar to us were found in distant regions of the globe, often in wild and unexplored country, in impenetrable jungle, by adventurous flower hunters who risked their lives to collect new plant specimens.

The intrepid flower hunters who scoured the world in search of plants from the middle of the seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century brought home specimens that helped build the great botanical collections of Europe and America and laid the foundations for the revolution in our understanding of the natural world. In Flower Hunters, the adventures of eleven such explorers are brought to life, describing not only their extraordinary daring and dedication, but also the lasting impact of their discoveries both on science, and on the landscapes and gardens that we see today.

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