$32.00
We live on a floral planet, but we tend to admire flowers for their looks and overlook what they’ve actually done. In this book, biologist David George Haskell looks closely at magnolias, orchids, roses, and lesser-known flowers like seagrasses to show how they changed the natural world.
When flowering plants evolved, they turned old enemies into partners, reinvented how plants grow and reproduce, and adapted to dramatic environmental change. Along the way, they helped build rain forests, prairies, savannahs, and ocean shores. They also made human life possible, giving us food, habitat, and a part in our rituals and traditions.
Combining lyrical writing with current science, Haskell tells the story of how flowers shaped our planet and what they can teach us about resilience in a changing world.