Plant Love

Overview

Get ready for the shocking truth about botanical sex

Who knew that bee orchids trick insects into having sex with them, avocado flowers are female one day and male the next, and some flowers are the insect equivalent of nightclubs where males and females meet and mate? Author Mike Allaby reveals more than 200 of nature's most unseemly creations in this sensational exposé. The sexual antics of plants are far more varied than those of people, and plants have preferences and techniques for which we have no equivalent. Being rooted to the spot, many rely on pollinators for assistance—and forget birds and bees, we're talking kangaroos, giraffes, and vampire bats. Botanical illustrations throw light on the gallery of pimps, hookers, and gigolos who may be lurking in your back garden and spice up this compendium of scurrilous botany which—be warned—may shock the worldliest of gardeners.

Reviews

"It's funny, well-written, and filled with tidbits that'll make you rethink everything you thought you knew about lovin' in the natural world." —Chicago Review of Books

Author Biography

Michael Allaby is the award-winning popular science author of more than 100 books on plants and ecology. He edits science dictionaries for Oxford University Press.