Hortus Curious: Discover the World's Most Weird and Wonderful Plants and Fungi

by Michael Perry

Celebrate the weird, wacky, and wonderful world of plants with a book that revels in the diversity of the botanical world.

Plants are truly awe-inspiring. They can be vast, minute, smelly, or spectacularly ugly. Some plants live on their own, or by growing off others; some live by air and water; others are carnivorous, eating the creatures around them; some plants look remarkably like animals; while others have unusual symbolism; and some have special cultural significance. This book explores them all, bringing together the most peculiar and most fascinating plants on the planet - celebrating them in all their diverse splendor.

Split into five chapters, covering everything from poisonous plants to painkilling ones, Michael Perry explains exactly what makes each plant special. With exquisitely detailed illustrations of all the different species, this is an informative, humorous, and beautiful gift for all those who love plants - whether they want to grow them or not. Hortus Curious delivers a different way to view the plant world and enjoy it for its bonkers and bizarre.

The book is split into five chapters, covering:

- Plants Behaving Badly - the criminal world of plants such as poisonous plants, insect catching
plants, and plants that do risky thing
- Mistaken Identity - plants that look like other things, e.g. flowers that look like monkeys, bees, or
even dead man's fingers
- Greater Good - did you know that aspirin comes from a plant? This chapter explores the plants
that make up our everyday products
- Superheroes - find out about the plants that can disguise themselves, changing color, shape
or even moving themselves
- X-rated Plants - a selection of the rudest plants out there!

A humorous and quirky gift book for people interested in plants and gardening, Hortus Curious is sure to delight.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Plants, Nature

192 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Petra X]

I've seen the flower on the cover. It is the corpse flower or Rafflesia arnoldii. It's about 10' tall, and more than a yard across and it stinks like ... a corpse. It's really horribly fascinating. I saw it in Kew Gardens, went every other day for a week (I didn't live too far away in West Hampstead, London) and each day the bud got hotter, you weren't supposed to touch it, but you know like wet paint.... you just have to. It was as ugly as it's smell, but in an otherworldly, far-too-large for this one, beautiful. I think it was a once in a life time viewing.

I hope the book is as good as that experience.

[Kate Meberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, and cool selection of plants. The writing leaves something to be desired though. He’s trying to be clever and maybe provocative? But to me it comes off as immature and eye roll inducing.

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only ever visited two conservatories - Singapore's Gardens by the Bay and Phipps Garden in Pittsburgh. What amazes me about these gardens were the carefully curated landscapes and the mix of colours. When I chanced upon this book, it occurred to me that I've never really learnt anything new about plants from these visits. My understanding of plants has always been - most are green and some have colours ..., I was prepared for this read to change my perspective.

This book presented the unique properties and interesting behaviours of different plants. Most of these evolutionary qualities are used for a better chance at pollination and it's funny how plants adapted in different ways to achieve that outcome. Before reading this book, the extent of my knowledge of 'interesting' plants was probably limited to the Venus flytrap and the Rafflesia. This read expanded my exposure. I was pleasantly intrigued to read about the existence of a fire-flower, taste-changing berries, a Darth Vader flower, and the Love-Nuts (CoCo De Mer) 🤭

I felt that I was going through a guided tour in the conservatory. Micheal Perry's knowledge, personality, and passion are evident in the book. That said, I didn't like the drawings. I rather have real stills of the flowers and the plants. I found myself toggling to YouTube/Google to watch some of these plants in action. I felt the read was more complete that way.

This book increased my exposure and appreciation for the craft of horticulture. I wouldn't go so far as saying that it inspired me to start my home garden. But... considering that I have been a serial plant killer for most of my life, it might be a good thing..., 😂

[Hannah Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, how ace is the cover? It screams read me now! Inside, Michael takes us on a worldwide journey to discover plants from around the world - including x-rated (ooer missus), superheroes (hurrah!) and those with a mistaken identity (masters in disguise).

It's full of facts and stats which will blow your mind. You will never look at plants in the same way again. Michael writes with passion and knowledge in a down-to-earth and playful way. His personality has been captured on each page, and I feel like he is standing in front of me doing one of his talks.

The illustrations by Aaron Apsley are beautifully vivid, and some of the pages are brightly coloured, giving it an extra zing. Perfect for anyone who has a fascination with plants and especially for fans of David Attenborough's Green Planet.

[Karen Mace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love watching Michael Perry, Mr Plant Geek, on TV and Instagram as his enthusiasm for plants is infectious!! And his book is a fabulous blast of colour, info and fascinating facts as he looks at the weird and wonderful plants that can be found in the world!

There's weird flowers, fungi and x-rated plants too in this book and it looks at their weird traits, where they can be found alongside fabulous colour images to show off the plants in their full glory!!

This is a great little book for all those garden lovers looking to learn a bit more about some obscure plants, and there's even information about whether you can grow them at home yourself - not that you'd want some of them! - and it's a great mix of fun and facts!! Nature really is amazing when you see the kind of plants it creates!!

[MKF]

The author should have gone into a bit more into details for the growing at home area. The states are divided into regions which helps growers find plants that grow best in their regions without having to guess. In this book you would need to do more research to actually see if it would really grow in your area and also if it's good for gardens or better as a house plant. The real issue though is bringing non-native plants to areas where they could change or destroy local ecosystems.

[Ezra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did learn quite a bit from this book but I feel more respect could’ve been given to these plants. I feel like the author subjected them to human terms and expectations, including some jarring misogynistic comments about females being slow for example. Would not recommend to others because there’s simply better books filled with facts about fascinating plants than one from a cis man projecting his worldview onto literal plants.

[Anna Nesterovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wildly amusing book that brought lots of laughter to our family and resulted in a few seed pack ordered from Amazon. The book is not super informative, but what was written looks reliable enough. I knew most of the stars from the book, but I did learn a few new ones and I'm happy with it.

[Kayla Zabcia]

DNF

I would've liked actual pictures of the plants and their parts, instead of paintings of them. As lovely as the artwork is, it's just not the same as seeing the real thing, you know? Also, sometimes the author went on personal tangents that I didn't care for; I just want information about plants, I don't need to know about your teenagers.

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this next to my phone to look up the plants I wasn't familiar with. The botanical illustrations were gorgeous, but that marble berry (for example) could never be captured exactly by a drawing. Perry seemingly left out some interesting plant features, and at times, his cheekiness came across immaturely.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely written book about unusual plants, from carnivorous plants, to stinky plants, to plants with the largest seeds, to plants that are the creepiest, etc. The author has also done drawings of each plant and has done it well. Very informative.

[Anouska Loves to Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about some unusual plants and gung-ho from around the world. I really enjoyed learning about plants I’d never heard of. This book really shows the true wonder of Mother Nature. I’d definitely recommend to any botany lover.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely deserves its flowers.

[Karrie Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative and interesting book. I just wish it had real photos and not drawings.

[DaniPhantom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man do I love learning about weird little plants

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book to dip in and out of for its illustrations and information about some fascinating plants such the Flying Duck Orchid, the Burning bush, gas plant or the very creepy Dead Man's Fingers.

[Sarah Hoogenbosch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun!

[Tara Blais Davison · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 Interesting

[Kris Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew a nonfiction book could have equal parts info and humor? I have read very few nonfiction books with personality and I couldn't be happier with this one.

[Bee Ostrowsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin, and spectacularly.

[Shawna Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Fun way of looking at plants. Also totally mixed chocolate, peppermint, and coconut wax melts to see what that flower smelled like.

[Jodi Geever · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED everything about this book. All the stars!

Sketches are beautiful. Format is engaging. Read it. Mic drop.
RR 2022.

*******RR 2025 update*********

The committee was asked to revisit this title and focus our attention on the X-rated plants chapter. It’s unapologetic, and it’s clear about what it is. I still think this book has a place on the adult top 6 because the content contained within doesn’t rise above our typical two F -bombs limit for fiction and also the structure of the book lends itself to being flipped through. The chapter title makes the topic clear. If readers don’t want to read about X rated plants they can skip the chapter and still enjoy the title.

[Hattivat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light and short summer read. The writing is not particularly good but is saved by high quality illustrations and a good selection of subjects.