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The flower hunters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were intrepid explorers –  remarkable, eccentric men and women who scoured the world in search of extraordinary plants. For these adventurers, the search for undiscovered plant specimens was something worth risking – and sometimes losing – their lives for.  Exquisite orchids and magnolias, trees such as the monkey puzzle and the Douglas fir were discovered in wild and unexplored countries, often in the face of hunger, disease, and hostile locals. Smuggled home by the flower hunters, the specimens helped build the world’s great botanical collections, and laid the foundations for a revolution in our understanding of the natural world.

Mary and John Gribbin’s recent book Flower Hunters (now available is paperback) tells the stories of people like Joseph Banks, who sailed with Captain Cook around the world; Robert Fortune, who battled pirates to smuggle tea plants out of China; and Marianne North, who visited almost every continent to paint a beautiful, and scientifically valuable, record of the plants she saw. Their daring and dedication had a lasting impact both on science, and on the landscapes and gardens that we see today.