The Plant Hunters: Two Hundred Years of Adventure and Discovery Around the World

The Plant Hunters describes the adventures of ten British plant hunters who traveled to remote places such as South Africa, Tahiti, New Zealand, China, Nepal, South America, and the Pacific Northwest (still remote in the early 1800s) in search of plants that would be new to European gardners and botanists. Some of the trips were primarily for scientific purposes, but most were funded by British commercial nurseries looking for exotic plants to sell. The time period ranges from the late 1700s to the early 1900s; most of the travels were done in the age of sailing ships. The searches of the plant hunters were no walk in the park. They experienced dangers from extreme weather and terrain, insects, disease, rebel terrorists, pirates, and thieves. Most of them experienced injury or sickness, and some of their companions died. This is a book of adventure stories, accompanied by color photos of some of the beautiful plants that the hunters brought back (usually as seeds or bulbs). For example, in the 1800s many species of rhododendrons were brought back from Asia, leading to a "rhododendromania" in Europe that was as passionate as the "orchid fever" of the 1900s. The book is well written and well illustrated, though I wished for photos of some of the plants that were mentioned but not illustrated. The book inspired me to learn more about some of the plant hunters. I'll start with Patrick O'Brian's biography of Sir Joseph Banks, who sailed around the world with Captain James Cook in the late 1700s.

I came across the plant hunter Kingdon Ward in a book edited by Jamaica Kincaid (My favourite plant) - of which I gave copies to 3 gardening friends. I tracked down some of his books in my local library (last taken out in 1972!). The librarian then mentioned that THE PLANT HUNTERS had just been published - and I bought it. This contains a brief account of the career of the explorers (from Joseph Banks to Kingdon Ward, passing through "Chinese" Wilson and David Douglas of the Douglas fir) who brought back to Europe so many of the plants we now take for granted in our gardens. The biographies are very well written, quoting liberally from the original writings of the subjects. After reading these accounts you definitely feel that your life is rather sedentary and dull. At the end of each chapter there is a short list of the more interesting plant introductions. For instance, it adds something to the aspect of a plant such as the Arum Lily, to know that it originated in South Africa. There are excellent and numerous colour photos - most helpful. The original Kingdon Ward books have a number of black-and-white photos from the Thirties, which is not at all the same thing! All in all, a most worthwhile read and perfect for a person like me - who does not have a garden but finds the subject interesting.