Bizarre plants: Magical, monstrous, mythical

by William A. Emboden

Vintage book about Bizarre Plants

Genres: Nonfiction, Plants, Science, Nature, Mythology

214 pages, Hardcover

First published June 20, 1974

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It really covers some bizarre plants and the lore behind them over the centuries. The last chapter covers known plants that did not actually exist and how they were explained in different cultures. Some were just huge, others medicinal, some poisons. I so want to see Kew Gardens as many oddities were sent there over many , many decades and they managed to get many to grow and still have them.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun one. Emboden has a great way of getting a point across. He's pretty funny in a wry and rococo sort of way, viz. "All the aforementioned grotesqueries should preclude man's intervention in the playful game of Mother Nature" (192) and of Aunt Etty, who removed phallic fungi to "protect the morals of our maidens," he said, "If a monument to her heroic gesture should be erected, it would prove most curious. But certainly such virtue should not unrewarded" (186).

Also, ironic that I'm covered in poison ivy right now?

Recommended for people who love mandrake lore.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange book. With chapter headings such as "Herbs of Grace: Witches and Warlocks Undone," "Satan's Simples: the Herbs of Black Magic," and "Fungal Fantasies," a reader would hope for more excitement and thrills. This is compounded with the fact that the pictures and illustrations are in black and white, surely due to its publishing era, the early 1970s.

[Cedar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, I want to revise the index of this book.

[aloveiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should have been good.
Weird, but not intriguing.