Kew bags botanist Thorogood's 'inspiring' journeys

Kew Publishing has commissioned an “inspiring” book from botanist Dr Chris Thorogood, deputy director and head of science at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum. 

Chasing Plants – Journeys with a Botanist Through Rainforests, Swamps and Mountains will publish in September this year, accompanied by the author’s illustrations.

The publisher said: “This new title is an account of the exhilarating and often perilous adventures of a 21st-century botanist, obsessed with plants and travelling the world in pursuit of them. Chris found his passion early in life and his story starts on a childhood trip to Ikea, when he found his first broomrape among the Coke cans! He dreamt of being a botanist from that day on. 

“Chris’ love of plants and his determination to cure our ‘green blindness’ has given him the courage to abseil down cliff edges, tread death-defying paths, climb erupting volcanoes and run through typhoons. His hair-raising adventures have taken him across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and the pitcher plants, irises and orchids more heart-piercingly beautiful than you could ever imagine are the reward for his intrepid expeditions.”

Publisher Gina Fullerlove said: “This is a truly inspiring read; Chris paints his passion as a modern-day botanist quite brilliantly in both words and pictures, working in a time when protecting plants and biodiversity have never been more important.” 

Thorogood added: “When I was a kid I dreamed of being a botanist. I would lie awake imagining myself in the rainforest or up mountains looking at plants. This book tells the story of how that childhood dream came true.”