The Plant Hunters: Two Hundred Years of Adventure and Discovery Around the World

by Toby Musgrave, Chris Gardner, Will Musgrave

This is the story of the men who discovered and brought back a wealth of exotic new plants. Journeying through remote and beautiful lands, often in great peril, they collected the plants that shaped western garden design for 200 years. The stories are illustrated with portraits, photographs and maps. The book traces the journeys of 10 of the most significant plant hunters, from the 18th century to the last of the professionals, Frank Kingdon-Ward. It travels with Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks to South America, New Zealand and Australia. It treks over 9000 miles across North America with David Douglas, who laid claim to 200 species. It also explores California, South America and South East Asia with the Lobb brothers, and climbs into the Himalaya with Joseph Hooker in search of spectacular rhododendrons. It follows Robert Fortune, as he smuggles tea plants out of China, the foundation of a vast cash crop vital to the development of the Empire. These and other stories vividly bring to life the pioneering work of plant hunters.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, History, Science, Nature

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 1998

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'd heard of a few of the "plant hunters" featured in this book, I did not previously understand either nor the occupational hazards of this vocation. Extremities of weather, terrain, foreign illnesses, and political turmoil made the search for exotic plants uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst. The demand among European gardeners, horticulturalists, and botanists for ever more diverse specimens fueled this campaign. There were some great stories in this book and interesting information about the origin of plants now found in gardens around the world. I found it to be easy reading.

[Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anachronistic, uncritical, and nostalgic for empire and British power. How many quotes do we need about "smelly" or otherwise undesirable peoples? Is that why we bought the book? I realise explorers wrote those words, but a poor choice their inclusion here, in a "lightweight" book designed for a giftshop... And despite its expensive printing, woefully short of plant pictures: if you're not already familiar with many, many garden plants, the names will go right by. The focused section on plants introduced by each subject at the end of each chapter also features very few pictures, a choice difficult to understand.

[Chris Leuchtenburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing tales of adventure and often misadventure seeking out new plants for wealthy Anglo gardens. For instance, during Joseph Banks ‘successful’ voyage with Cook, he led two of his servants to a cold, wet, exhausted death near Tierra del Fuego. Eventually, 7 out of ten in his party died, mostly of disease in Jakarta. The authors have a gardener’s view of exotic plants, without a smidgen of interest in native plants nor the problem of invasives. Their Eurocentric view of imperialism and the brutality of these aristocrats could be excused as simply naive. Great stories, though.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of the first men to venture in the field searching for new and valuable species of plants for science and for cultivation by nurseries. Almost every expedition was filled with a great deal of risk and possibility of failure. The story of these men, what they went through and what they were willing to go through for the purpose of securing the plant and or seeds is a remarkable story very well told by the authors.

I highly recommend it.

[Claire Bate-Roullin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to the world of plant hunters, yet the amount of spelling and grammar errors is disappointing...