P is for Poison

Or more specifically, a particular book I happen to be reading about plants. Very special plants. Killer plants! I started writing a short story and, well...someone has to die. I worry that my local librarians are concerned as I've recently checked out several books on poisonous plants.

More About Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities

In Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities you can read about a tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

More about Amy Stewart

Amy Stewart is the New York Times best-selling author of The Tree Collectors, The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants and several other popular nonfiction titles about the natural world. She’s also written several novels in her beloved Kopp Sisters series, which are based on the true story of one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs and her two rambunctious sisters.

Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide and have been translated into 18 languages.

She lives in Portland with her husband Scott Brown, a rare book dealer who can usually be found at his shop, Downtown Brown Books.

A Little Something Extra

It wasn't enough to write a book about Wicked Plants, Amy Stewart also has a Wicked Plants coloring book. People are always touting adult coloring books as a way to relax. I can't think that coloring pictures of toxic plants would be relaxing. Puppies, teapots, English cottages...sure. But poisonous plants? Of course, what do I know. I'm the one reading a book about poisonous plants.