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  • Wicked Plants

  • The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
  • By: Amy Stewart
  • Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
  • Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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Wicked Plants

By: Amy Stewart
Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
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Editorial reviews

Author/Gardener Amy Stewart and reader Coleen Marlo have followed up Wicked Plants with a new audiobook detailing the sinister elements that could be lurking in floral bouquets, backyard gardens, or even that plate of vegetables on the dinner table. Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities continues in the vein of Wicked Bugs, giving a brief history of known botanical problems: poison ivy, hemlock, oleander, etc., but also adding tidbits about obscure plants to be assiduously avoided. While Coleen Marlo's playful tone makes the most of Stewart's creative descriptions, both the text and the reader continually emphasize the need for safety and easy access to the phone number for Poison Control when reaction to a plant is ever in question.

Marlo clearly enjoys herself as she reads through "Death by Lawn", "Weeds of Mass Destruction", and "Vegetable Wickedness". It is the little things that are the most interesting, though, such as Marlo's presentation of "ordeal beans", which, for a while in Nigeria became a Monty Python-esque method of determining innocence or guilt through the ingesting the toxic calabar bean. Or how simply passing by a henbane plant could cause folks to swoon, which is why ancient Romans attempted to use the plant as an anesthesia.

Stewart's research encompasses plants that strangle, sicken, sting, cause hives, and in general irritate through their seeds, leaves, fragrance, and oils. Marlo's delivery brings forth the irony and/or humor inherent in plants with names from "vomitwort" and "corpse flower". There are fascinating facts as Stewart details and Marlo presents the sometimes fine line between plant as healer - castor oil from castor beans - to plant as murderer - the horrific poison, ricin, is an extract from that same castor bean plant. There is malevolence to be found in the book from unstoppable water hyacinth vines, fast-growing bushes of purple loosestrife, and the pestilence of killer algae in our oceans. Wicked Plants tells of a world pretty much taken over by insidious plant life, perhaps increasing its sinister control while a human population is distracted by smartphones, computer screens, and iPads. Fortunately for the audiobook aficionados, listeners can remain alert to the encroaching kudzu while enjoying Amy Stewart's highly entertaining writing and Coleen Marlo's enthusiastic descriptions in Wicked Plants. Oh, and remember to avoid exploding plants! — Carole Chouinard

Publisher's Summary

Beware! The sordid lives of plants behaving badly. A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Amy Stewart, best-selling author of Flower Confidential, takes on over 200 of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.

Stewart renders a vivid portrait of evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, enlighten, and alarm even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

©2009 Amy Stewart (P)2011 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Culling legend and citing science, Stewart's fact-filled, A-Z compendium of nature's worst offenders offers practical and tantalizing composite views of toxic, irritating, prickly, and all-around ill-mannered plants." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about Wicked Plants

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wonderful

I loved this read! such a fun and lively description of some of the planets most fascinating plants!! I do recommend a background or knowledge of Latin names, simple because there aren't any pictures!! must read for all plant lovers and horticulture enthusiasts!!

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Pleasant but not in-depth

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Wicked Plants is a reasonable listen, with some interesting facts but it dealt with the subject matter quite lightly. I thought 'the Drunken Botanist' was better.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

This was a book of lists. It didn't have an ending so much as a stopping point.

What about Coleen Marlo’s performance did you like?

She hisses her 's', which gets a bit jarring when you listen to the book over the full four hours. That could be an artifact of production as it didn't seem as noticeable in the other works she's narrated.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

I'd rent it but not buy it.

Any additional comments?

Wicked Plants felt like an excerpt from 'the Drunken Botanist' as though it was a way for the author to use her leftover research. Not a bad book but cursory.

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Great listen! Amazing botanic facts.

Absolutely loved it. Such an interesting audiobook with a great narrator. I had no idea so many innocent looking plants were highly dangerous. Even if you're not a botany enthusiast, you'll enjoy this short listen.

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