The Incredible Journey of Plants Hardcover – Illustrated, March 24, 2020

This is the latest offering from the Italian botanist Mancuso. As in Brilliant Green, which I have previously read and reviewed, he argues passionately that plants should not be perceived as second-class citizens to animals in the kingdoms of life. But this time he restrains himself from going off the deep end into arguments about plant “intelligence”. He does brush with the idea of evolutionary co-dependence with humans in a way that reminded me of Michael Pollan’s excellent Botany of Desire. But this is more of an ode to the striking adaptability of plants and their ability to colonize the world across extremes of time, distance, and conditions. In less than 150 Kindle pages, he restricts himself to selected examples that are long on historical context but short on scientific details. They are all fascinating, but would have been even more so if they had dug more deeply into the biology rather than just the wonder of how, for example, a date seed can germinate after thousands of years. The chapters are interspersed with fanciful but uninformative drawings. I found myself resorting to Google Images to picture the different species he was mentioning. Surely sowing some illustrations amidst the text would bear fruit in better satisfying the curiosity of readers.Translated from the original Italian, the language is flowery, sometimes circular, and always dramatic. It is like an operatic celebration of plants, or, given its brevity, an operetta. When the curtain drops, you will be left inspired. Bravo.

This book explores extremes of plant science that will blow your mind. Stephano Mancuso, a plant neurobiologist at the University of Florence, reveals that:Plants absorb nuclear radiation that would kill humans, and that’s why the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is now a wildlife refuge.Water hyacinths are so invasive that once there was a plan to introduce hippopotami into Louisiana to eat them.Some plants distribute their seeds by hitching rides on motor vehicles.A weeping willow tree that grew 1,214 feet from ground zero at Hiroshima regenerated itself from its roots and is alive today.To this day, botanists still don’t know where the coconut originated and what routes it used to spread around the world.A Norway Spruce tree named “Old TjIkko” is the oldest plant in the world at 9560 years. It regenerates its trunk every 500 t0 700 years.A single spruce tree on remote Campbell Island, 375 miles south of New Zealand, is so far away from another tree of the same species that Guinness World Records has named it “the loneliest tree in the world.”All this and much more makes for fascinating reading, especially if you’re crazy about plants like I am.Note to the publisher: The watercolor illustrations in the book are mostly incomprehensible and distract from the text rather than enhancing it.

This book provides a refreshing look at some unique plants and how they were transported to their locations or how they survived in conditions that you may not have thought was even possible. There are several plants that are in the most remote areas of the Earth, such as uninhabited islands or the coldest regions of the Earth as well as areas affected by nuclear explosions. And yet, as is mentioned by a person the author encounters in the book, "Life always wins". You can read this in a day, but the stories will stay with you for a life time. If you enjoy plants or history and are a curious person, then you will enjoy this book each time you read it!

A great book for those of us that are not botanists but see great beauty and wonder in the plants around us. Read and learn about some very interesting species of plant and just how much a rule they play in what we know about this great planet.

I bought this book for my 93 year old mother who has been in lockdown at her assisted living facility since March. She is an avid reader and said that this was a truly wonderful book. I don't have as much time to read as she does but I take her word for it as she has read countless books in her life.

A very easy to read narration of the plant life and the way they have survived and proliferated around the world, despite tough odds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book the author has a real gift for being able to make science accessible to the Layman. I learned a lot about plants and how they travel and about some truly fascinating plants

There are some interesting chapters, especially the story about the trees in Hiroshima that survived the A bomb. That story standing alone justifies buying the book. The illustrations are pleasing and overall, the book has a nice feel to it.

Excellent book, a refreshing look at plants and recommended reading

I am only part way into this book, but it is truly fascinating and I cannot wait to carry on, I may now order his other books too.

i didn't read yet

Too short .I .would like many more stories in the same veinWell told anecdotes and also educational. Excellent