This is not an atlas and it has no poems, but it is certainly botanical. What we have here is a delightful book about tropical botany. Originally written in French, by a rainforest expert, this introduces the reader to a few dozen remarkable tropical plants, many of which are trees.
The illustrations, by the author, are quirky but are very attractive and added much to my enjoyment of the book. There is something about the illustrations which made me smile at them – they not only transmit information about the size, form and shape of the plants but also of the author’s affection for them.
The cover (above) gives you a reasonable flavour of the illustrations, in this case the Gunnera peltata which is found on the Juan Fernandez Islands (although we are told the author saw his first on Tresco, Isles of Scilly). The author tells us of walking through a Gunnera forest below the plants’ gigantic leaves and that it took him three days to dissect a single plant – with a meat cleaver rather than a scalpel.
The Gunnera is found along with ‘The Biggest Leaf in the World’ and ‘The Fastest Growing Tree in the World?’ in Chapter 1, Records and Exuberance, which is followed by chapters entitled Adaptations, Mysterious Behaviour, Coevolution Between Plants and Animals and Biological Singularities.
The short (3-page) introduction, which I read after dipping into many of the individual accounts, sets out beautifully the author’s feeling for plants and the rainforests in which so many are found, but also the case for botanical illustration.
I warmed to this delightful book and am very glad that I came across it. Its title, and quite honestly its subject, would not necessarily have drawn me to the book but having it in my hands meant that it was impossible not to engage with it because of the quality of the text and illustrations. The author deserves that his words and drawings gain a large audience. The book’s frontispiece acknowledges Eliane Patriarca as a co-author and the translator deserves his commendation too.
Atlas of Poetic Botany by Francis Halle (translated by Erik Butler) is published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson –it would make a great Christmas present and you can secure copies for yourself, your friends, colleagues and relatives for £20 per copy. Details here.