Rare Plants

Peter Marren is a natural-history writer and conservationist. He is a wildlife polymath whose writings extend from newspaper journalism, obituaries, book reviews and opinion pieces to humour and news summaries for the likes of Whitaker’s Almanack. He was a regular contributor to British Wildlife magazine for 33 years and is the author of more than 20 books, including Bugs Britannica, Chasing the Ghost, After They’re Gone, and Mushrooms – the first title in the British Wildlife Collection series.

• Preface1. Modes of rarity 2. Discovery: how rare plants were found 3. The continuing story: new flowers 4. Origins: natives, archaeophytes and neophytes 5. Made in Britain: our endemic flora 6. Micro-rarities: how a few can make a lot 7. Across the divide: the world of hybrids 8. The end game: lost flowers 9. The other world: bryophytes, stoneworts, seaweeds and desmids 10. Plants and people: subjects, symbols and icons 11. The condition of rarity: problems, opportunities and imaginings 12. Lost slippers and other floral icons: challenges, champions and chickenwire 13. The conservation labyrinth: legislation, argument and actionAppendix 1. Protected plants in the United Kingdom Appendix 2. Protected plants in Ireland References and further reading Illustration credits Acknowledgements Index

A delight. Our rare wildflowers have their supreme champion in Peter Marren, our finest natural history writer and connoisseur of the threatened and the sought-after. In this beguiling and beautifully illustrated book, which should be on the shelves of all naturalists, he explores and explains the whys and wherefores of botanical rarity in all its guises.