The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species
by Carlos Magdalena
Doubleday | April 2018 | ISBN-10: 0385543611 | ePUB/MOBI | 7.37/8.66 MB
https://www.amazon.com/Plant-Messiah-Adventures-Search-Species/dp/0385543611
An impassioned memoir of saving extraordinary plants on the brink of extinction, by a scientist Carlos Magdalena who is not your average horticulturist. He's a man on a mission to save the world's most endangered plants. First captivated by the flora of his native Spain, he has travelled to the remotest parts of the globe in search of exotic species.
In The Plant Messiah, Magdalena takes readers from the Amazon to the jungles of Mauritius to deep within the Australian Outback in search of the rare and the vulnerable. Back in the lab, we watch as he develops groundbreaking, left-field techniques for rescuing species from extinction, encouraging them to propagate and thrive once again. Along the way, he offers moving, heartfelt stories about the secrets contained within these incredible organisms.
Passionate and absorbing, The Plant Messiah is a tribute to the diversity of life on our planet, and the importance of preserving it.
About the Author
CARLOS MAGDALENA is the Tropical Senior Botanical Horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and an international lecturer. He is renowned for his unique skills as a plant propagator who is saving the world's rarest plants.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
INTRODUCTION: A MESSIAH’S MANIFESTO
1 GENESIS
2 KEW CALLING
3 RESURRECTION IN RODRIGUES ISLAND
4 THE MESSIAH IN MAURITIUS
5 TALKING TORTOISES
6 RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH
7 THE RECYCLING PLANT
8 WATER BABIES
9 VICTORIA’S SECRETS
10 WARM WATERLILIES
11 HOT PROPERTY
12 BOLIVIAN BOTANY
13 PERUVIAN PLANTS
14 FLORA OF AUSTRALIA
EPILOGUE: ANYONE CAN BE A MESSIAH
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
GLOSSARY
A Note About the Author
Illustrations
