This is the book version of David Attenborough's TV
series “The Private Life of Plants”. Books like these were indispensable in the
good ol' days before the World Wide Web. All the highlights of the show are
here: bristlecone pines (one of these trees is 5000 years old?!), strangler
figs (only 500 years old – tssk, tssk), an underground orchid in West Australia,
the giant water lily of the Amazon, carrion flowers (guess what they smell
like), the Venus fly trap, plants fooling insects into “mating” with them, etc
etc. Some fungi have been thrown in for good measure, too, although fungi
aren't really plants (well, not anymore). Good if you like plants, including
the slightly absurd varieties. Probably
a total waste of time otherwise…
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