The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth

By Anita Silvey

Driven by an all-consuming passion, the plant hunters traveled around the world, facing challenges at every turn: tropical illnesses, extreme terrain, and dangerous animals. They battled piranhas, tigers, and vampire bats. Even the plants themselves could be lethal But these intrepid eighteenth- and nineteenth-century explorers were determined to find and collect new and unusual specimens, no matter what the cost. Then they tried to transport the plants--and themselves--home alive. Creating an important legacy in science, medicine, and agriculture, the plant hunters still inspire the scientific and environmental work of contemporary plant enthusiasts.

Working from primary sources--journals, letters, and notes from the field--Anita Silvey introduces us to these daring adventurers and scientists. She takes readers into the heart of their expeditions to then-uncharted places such as the Amazon basin, China, and India. As she brings a colorful cast of characters to life, she shows what motivated these Indiana Jones-type heroes. In The Plant Hunters, science, history, and adventure have been interwoven to tell a largely forgotten--yet fascinating--story.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374309086
• ISBN13: 9780374309084
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.4" x 10.2"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7