Flora Britannica covers the native and naturalised plants of England, Scotland and Wales, and, while full of fascinating history, is topical and modern. Indeed, Flora Britannica is the definitive contemporary flora, an encyclopaedia of living folklore, a register - a sort of Domesday Book.


It is unique in that it is not a botanical flora but a cultural one - an account of the role of wild plants in social life, arts, custom and landscape. It is also unique in that information has been supplied by the people themselves. Five years of intensive original research have aroused popular interest and 'grassroots' involvement on an exceptional scale. People all over Britain - both rural and urban - have been encouraged to record and celebrate the cultural dimensions of their own flora, and to send their memories and anecdotes, observations and regional knowledge to Flora Britannica.


The result is a nationwide record of the popular culture, domestic uses and social meanings of our wild plants. It is both useful and delightful - superbly written by one of the most outstanding English authors on natural history and illustrated with nearly 500 photographs. Including trees and ferns, it covers 1,000 species, many of them in considerable detail. A new flora for the people, Flora Britannica is a testimony to the continuing relationship between nature and human beings, and a celebration that the seasons and the landscape, local character and identity, still matter in Britain.

The definitive new guide to wild flowers, plants and trees

About the Author

Richard Mabey is the father of modern nature writing in the UK. Since 1972 he has written some forty influential books, including the prize-winning Nature Cure, Gilbert White: a Biography, and Flora Britannica. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Vice-President of the Open Spaces Society.

He spent the first half of his life amongst the Chiltern beechwoods, and now lives in Norfolk in a house surrounded by ash trees.

Reviews
A page-turner. He seamlessly weaves together the cultural and social history of wild plants... Undoubtedly the most fascinating book I own -- Andy Sturgeon * Gardens Illustrated *



Book Information
ISBN 9781856193771
Author Richard Mabey
Format Hardback
Page Count 480
Imprint Chatto & Windus
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 2197g
Dimensions(mm) 288mm * 230mm * 36mm