The Origin of Plants: The People and Plants That Have Shaped Britain's Garden History Since the Year 1000

A thousand years ago, there were only a few hundred plants indigenous to the British Isles. Over the past millennium, however, countless seeds, bulbs, and cuttings have been brought into Britain -- deliberately or unwittingly -- by travelers, warriors, explorers, and plant hunters who introduced what are now considered common plants -- rhododendrons from the Far East, gladioli from Africa, exotics like the monkey puzzle tree from Chile. Europe and the Near East, Russia and North America, South America and South Africa, India, Japan, and China all yielded a dazzling bounty that has immeasurably enriched Britain's flora. Maggie Campbell-Culver has researched the provenance and often strange histories of many of these thousands of species, as well as the intriguing stories of the people behind them. Laden with paintings and photographs, this is a splendid record of Britain's botanical heritage.