About this item
"Should you encounter any of the plants in this book, do not treat them lightly. They can kill you. Or cause you unbearable agony. Or land you in jail. Consider yourself warned."Explore the strange and remarkable stories of poisonous and even deadly plants. Science, history, and true crime converge in an informative and exciting look at Mother's Nature's ghoulish garden. From a hallucinogenic fungus linked to the Salem Witch Trials to the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother, learn how certain plants evolved toxicity to avoid being consumed by predators and became the predator on their own. In A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds author Rebecca Hirsch takes you on a wild journey to look at how toxic chemicals in the natural world have been used for medicine, warfare, and sinister acts of foul plan.
About the Author
Rebecca E. Hirsch is the author of dozens of books about science and discovery for children and teens, including PLANTS CAN'T SIT STILL and BIRDS VS BLADES? OFFSHORE WIND POWER AND THE RACE TO PROTECT SEABIRDS. Her newest book is DE-EXTINCTION: THE SCIENCE OF BRINGING LOST SPECIES BACK TO LIFE, which AAAS/Science Books & Films calls "a fascinating look at a controversial subject." Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and her writing is informed by her background as a scientist. Rebecca lives in central Pennsylvania with her family. Visit her at RebeccaHirsch.com.
