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In his debut book, internationally-recognized blogger and podcaster Matt Candeias celebrates the nature of plants and the extraordinary world of plant organisms.
Since his early days of plant restoration, this amateur plant scientist has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection. Using gardening, houseplants, and examples of plants around you, In Defense of Plants changes your relationship with the world from the comfort of your windowsill.
Understand how plants evolve and live on Earth with a never-before-seen look into their daily drama. Inside, Candeias explores the incredible ways plants live, fight, have sex, and conquer new territory. Whether a blossoming botanist or a professional plant scientist, In Defense of Plants is for anyone who sees plant organisms as more than just static backdrops to more charismatic life forms.
In this easily accessible introduction to the incredible world of plants, you'll find:
- Fantastic botanical histories and plant symbolism
- Passionate stories of flora diversity and scientific names of plants
- Personal tales of plantsman discovery through the study of plants
If you enjoyed books like The Botany of Desire or What a Plant Knows, then you'll love In Defense of Plants.
Matt Candeias holds an M.A. in community ecology from SUNY Buffalo State and a PhD in ecology from the University of Illinois. He is the host of the In Defense of Plants podcast and one of seven authors on Flora: Inside the Secret World Of Plants, a joint publication between the Smithsonian and the Royal Botanical Gargens at Kew. When he’s not tending to his houseplants, find him at yearly botanical talks in garden groups, museums, clubs, and more.
"Plants are bulwarks against climate change and the devastating tsunami of the Anthropocene. In his new book, Matt has produced a Bildungsroman mapping not just his journey, but that so many of us have taken to redefine the dynamic of Plant, People and Planet. It's an irresistible read."
– Panayoti Kelaidis, senior curator and director of outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens
"For many of us, plants serve as a kind of quiet backdrop to the world's more compelling biological dramas. Ecologist Matt Candeia shows just how much we're missing. With wonder and an infectious enthusiasm, he takes readers on a thrilling botanical journey. His book is not merely an impassioned defense of plants, but a full-throated celebration of them."
– Eric Wagner, author of After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens
"[...] the whole adventure this vibrant book offers is illuminated by the author's own eyes-wide-open sense of wonder at the exquisite beauty and stimulating complexity of the natural world."
– Paddy Woodworth, author of Our Once and Future Planet
"Through his curiosity and intense passion for the natural world, Matt Candeias has neatly constructed in this book a condensation of what it feels to be the consummate plantsperson. Through this writing, as well as through his weekly podcasts, I find myself absorbed by his veneration for the magic and majesty of the floral kingdom in a manner so few are so able to achieve."
– Daniel J Hinkley, director emeritus of the Heronswood Garden
"[In Defense of Plants] does a masterful job of bringing in a variety of important and fascinating ecological topics from restoration to biodiversity, and even gets into the weeds on issues such as pollination ecology, mycorrhiza, and plant-animal interactions."
– Dennis Whigham, senior botanist and founding director of the North American Orchid Conservation Center
"A wonderfully eloquent defense of our fine botanical friends, indeed-authoritative, compelling, and passionate, Matt Candeias succeeds in evoking the wonder of plants with wit and wisdom."
– James T. Costa, PhD, executive director of the Highlands Biological Station and author of Darwin's Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory
"This book is an unapologetic celebration of the wonder of plants. And, no matter how many books about plants I've read, there were lots of facts that were new to me in Candeias' book."
– Botany One
