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Wicked Plants

The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

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Wicked Plants

By: Amy Stewart
Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
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About this listen

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 Agricultural & Food Sciences Animals Biological Sciences Environment Outdoors & Nature Science Heartfelt Plant Science

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)
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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.

Great listen! Amazing botanic facts.

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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!!

wonderful

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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.

Pleasant but not in-depth

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