A profusely illustrated journey celebrating plant science and revealing how the traits that plants have evolved have intricately entwined with our own history, culture and folklore. Who knew that there was a time when pineapples were hired out for parties, or that there are fruit whose ripening responds to sound, or why bananas are the perfect accessory for nightclubs? There are poignant stories too, and the downright bizarre, such as trees that seek and sever telephone wires, and the unflinching quest for aphrodisiacs that has changed the course of history.

Prof. Jonathan Drori CBE FLS is on the board of CUBG, is a Trustee of The Eden Project and Honorary Professor at the Birmingham Institute for Forest Research. He spent nine years on the Boards of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Woodland Trust and is an Ambassador for the WWF. In a previous life he was a documentary filmmaker and executive producer with the BBC. His books, Around the World in 80 Plants / 80 Trees are bestsellers in many languages.