The Plant-Hunter's Atlas

RHS Staff Pick of the Year 2021

Spectator Gardening Book of the year 2021

''A refreshingly insightful history of plant introductions.'' - Roy Lancaster

Travel the world with extraordinary tales of the botanical discoveries that have shaped empires, built (and destroyed) economies, revolutionised medicine and advanced our understanding of science.

Circling the globe from Australia''s Botany Bay to the Tibetan plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this book presents an incredible cast of characters - dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the ''Green Samurai'' Mikinori Ogisu and the intrepid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian - the first woman known to have made a living from science.

Beautifully illustrated wi