Buffalo & Erie County Public Library: Staff Review by Anne Conable
Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
I admit it, I’m not much of a gardener. But I know a great title when I see one. Amy Stewart is the California-based author of four best-selling gardening-related books, and this one, her latest published in 2009, had me grabbed from the first. Its lurid green cover introduces the package of sepia-toned pages, historically suggestive fonts, charming illustrations and whimsically imaginative etchings. Her short anecdotal entries on a most diabolical rogues gallery of botanical wonders make it easy to read or refer to later (if you really are a gardener, not just a reader).
This little handbook covers the full spectrum of plants to look out for, from “Aconite” to “Yew.” Pulling in bits of history, medicine, science, and literature, Stewart has crafted an intriguing read from start to finish. She mixes many of the more well-known villains of the plant world – poison ivy, hemlock, Venus flytrap, mandrake, kudzu, deadly nightshade, coca – with tales of
others less familiar that poison at a touch of its leaves, burst into flame, or stink of rotting meat.
But who KNEW that cashews, red kidney beans, corn, and elderberries, incorrectly prepared, can cause illness or death? The common weeds we see by WNY roadsides every day definitely take on a new cast when you learn how toxic they truly are. You may end up looking at your houseplants with new respect.
Amy Stewart will be speaking on Wicked Plants at the downtown Buffalo & Erie County Public Library on Saturday, June 26, 2 p.m., free, as part of the Library’s current exhibition “In the Garden: The Art of Botanical Illustration” and the National Buffalo Garden Festival. Her books are readily available at the Library.
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
1 Lafayette Square
Buffalo, NY 14203