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The Devil’s Garden
The World's Most Sinister Plants and Fungi
Brief Description
“Peter Marren is a master storyteller … he was destined to write The Devil’s Garden.” Richard Mabey A lively exploration of the poisoners, tricksters, stingers, stinkers and invaders of the plant world and how their lives intertwine with ours. Some plants and fungi – those we...
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See moreA lively exploration of the poisoners, tricksters, stingers, stinkers and invaders of the plant and fungal worlds and how their lives intertwine with ours.
A lively exploration of the poisoners, tricksters, stingers, stinkers and invaders of the plant and fungal worlds and how their lives intertwine with ours.
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Description
“Peter Marren is a master storyteller … he was destined to write The Devil’s Garden.” Richard Mabey
A lively exploration of the poisoners, tricksters, stingers, stinkers and invaders of the plant world and how their lives intertwine with ours.
Some plants and fungi – those we cultivate in farms, gardens and allotments – are pretty, useful or edible. Others are more troublesome: poisonous, or with painful stings, sinister looks or foul smells. In the medieval mind, these would be the flowers of the devil, planted on earth to torment humankind.
The infamous death cap mushroom, innocent-looking but lethal. The monstrous corpse flower, with a stench to match its name. The mandrake, said to scream if uprooted. In this deeply insightful and unflinching read, naturalist and conservationist Peter Marren explores the world’s ‘worst’ plants and fungi and the ways they maim, murder and make mischief to get by.
These species have rich histories, steeped in folklore and superstition, but there are also biological reasons behind why they are the way they are. Step into the devil’s garden and discover their stories, as amusing as they are unexpected and as gripping as they are horrifying.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399425469
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 07 May 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Wildlife
Illustration: black-and-white botanical line drawings
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 30.0mm
Width: 136.0mm
Height: 220.0mm
Weight: 400g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Peter Marren is an award-winning natural-history writer and conservationist. A wildlife polymath, his writings extend from journalism, obituaries, book reviews and opinion pieces to humour and news summaries for the likes of Whitaker’s Almanack. He was a regular contributor to British Wildlife magazine for 33 years and is the author of more than 20 books, including Bugs Britannica, Chasing the Ghost, After They’re Gone, and Mushrooms and Rare Plants in the British Wildlife Collection series.
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