Gollancz, 2014, 238 p.

The Cabaret of Plants subtitled Botany and the Imagination by Richard Mabey was brought to my attention by way of Stefanie @ So Many Books you can read what she thought of the book here.

This book is full of all sorts of details about ancient trees, when plants began to be depicted by cave artists, the part that plants played in the lives of early pagans, the odd things people in the past believed about plants, how plants inspired poets and artists, plant hunters (often Scottish) and all sorts.

I was most interested in the modern discoveries on how plants protect themselves. Such as the lima bean which gives off a volatile pheromone when it is attacked by spider mites, the pheromone attracts another species of predatory mite which feeds on the original attacker. I call that smart.

I was fascinated to read that in 1928 an Australian called Jack Trott had noticed a crack in the soil of a flower bed which had a sweet scent coming from it. It turned out to be coming from a type of orchid that flowers underground, it lives entirely underground and is pollinated by insects such as termites.

Plants are able to communicate via chemicals, warning their neighbouring plants of an imminent predator attack. This book is full of interesting facts, some you might already know if you’re into plants as I am but that won’t detract from the book.

Mind you I have always thought that plants have intelligence, it seems to be sheer arrogance on the part of humans to think that because plants don’t have bodies and brains like humans then they must be as dumb as a dead block of wood. A good read.