Chasing plants : journeys with a botanist through rainforests, swamps, and mountains / Chris Thorogood.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [271]-275) and indexes.

On a trip to Ikea -- Vampire hunting -- Dragon slaying -- Through Holy Land -- On sacred slopes -- Across kingdoms -- To pitcher plant paradise.

"Ever been obsessed with something? I mean really obsessed? Ever lain awake dreaming about it: a new car perhaps, your dream house, a person? I guess we all have them, only my obsession is a little offbeat. Mine is plants. . ." After making a strange discovery on a childhood trip to Ikea, Chris Thorogood dreamed of becoming a botanist and would stop at nothing to feed his growing addiction to plants. In his hair-raising adventures across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, he treads a death-defying path over clifftops, up volcanoes, through typhoons, and into the heart of the world's vast green wilderness. Along the way, he encounters pitcher plants, irises, and orchids more heart-piercingly beautiful than you could ever imagine. Thorogood explains how "We share the biosphere with hundreds of thousands of plant species that existed long before us, and we have a duty of care to protect them, yet their plight often goes unnoticed. Perhaps we need to bring plants out of the shadows by portraying them differently: showing their intrigue, their character, something beyond a beautiful backdrop for animals to exist in; and challenging the perception of what botanists do and why they care so deeply." An internationally acclaimed illustrator, Thorogood conjures what he finds back to life in his electric paintings, which feature throughout. To follow his footsteps is to be under his spell--and you'll never think of plants the same way again"--