The Plant Thieves

Secrets of the herbarium

By Prue Gibson

0-3

NATURE

272 Pages, 5.25 x 8.25

Formats: Trade Paper, EPUB, PDF

Trade Paper, $39.99 (US $39.99) (CA $53.99)

Publication Date: May 2023

ISBN 9781742237688

Rights: WOR X UK, EUR, AU, NZ & ZA

University of New South Wales Press (May 2023)
NewSouth

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Price:	$39.99

Overview
Author Biography

Overview

Unearth the hidden world of plants and their keepers. The Plant Thieves reveals remarkable stories from the National Herbarium of New South Wales, exploring its people, archives, and guarded specimens. Who has the right to collect, name, and use plants? Whose knowledge truly matters?

Prudence Gibson delves into the herbarium's secrets, unearthing tales of plant-naming wars, rediscovered species, First Nations agriculture, and even illegal drug labs. Discover the anti-inflammatory plant that saved a botanist in Papua New Guinea, the secret Wollemi pine plantation, and a beach daisy evolving so rapidly it defies classification.

The Plant Thieves inspires hope for a decolonized future, revealing the power of plants and our complex relationship with them. Perfect for readers interested in:

Botany and ecology
Australian history and Indigenous studies
Environmental ethics and conservation

Author Biography

Prudence Gibson is an author and research academic in plant studies at Art and Design, University of NSW. She is lead investigator of an Australian Research Council project on the herbarium. She is the author of Janet Laurence: The pharmacy of plants and a contributor to Art and Australia, Sydney Review of Books and The Conversation.

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