About this item
From an acclaimed botanist and artist, a thrilling and beautifully illustrated expedition around the globe in search of the world's most extraordinary plants. After making a strange discovery on a childhood trip to Ikea - a stand of sap-sucking, leafless broomrapes, stealing nutrients from their neighbors' roots - Chris Thorogood dreamed of becoming a botanist and would stop at nothing to feed his growing addiction to plants. In his hair-raising adventures across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Thorogood treads a death-defying path over cliffs, up erupting volcanoes, through typhoons, and out into the very heart of the world's vast, green wilderness. Along the way, he encounters pitcher plants, irises, and orchids more heart-piercingly beautiful than could ever be imagined.
About the Author
Dr Chris Thorogood is a botanist at the University of Oxford, and an illustrator and public speaker. Chris's research interests centre on evolutionary genetics, plant taxonomy and biodiversity hotspots. Specifically he is interested in the evolution of parasitic and carnivorous plants, as well as taxonomic diversity in biodiversity hotspots including the Mediterranean Basin region and Japan. Chris won a scholarship in 2005 to carry out his PhD research on speciation in parasitic plants at the University of Bristol, for which he was awarded a Faculty Commendation, and the national Irene Manton Prize for best thesis in botany in 2009. Chris is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and a Junior Research Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford.
