I don’t know who recommended this book and didn’t even have it on my list of books I want to read, but it suddenly showed up on my ‘ready to be picked up’ list at the OPL. I’m glad it did.
The author is almost as dispersed as many of the plants she discusses. Born in Canada of Taiwanese and Welsh parents, she has lived in Vancouver, London, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Taipei, London, England, Cambridge, and Berlin, the latter twice and currently. She has a Ph.D from Cambridge. The personal stories of her adventures are interwoven with the documentation of the many plants and few animals that she discusses. Her wanderlust probably contributes to her sense of belonging in no fixed place. The conversations with her newborn daughter as she is forced to move back to Berlin because she can’t afford to live in Cambridge are touching and philosophical.
In 14 chapters, she discusses the deliberate or unintended introduction of many different species such as soy, citrus trees, pine, heath, tea, and mosses, often with major economic impacts such as the introduction of citrus trees to Florida. Some achieved nationalistic symbolism and have had a major impact in the literature and culture of countries, e.g. introduction of tea to Britain. The genetics of constantly evolving plants responding to climate change is mentioned but not a major feature in this work.
There are now 1,700 seed banks around the world that serve as a repository of genetic material that can be studied by scientists.
While recognizing the harm done by many species as they migrate to new territories, she takes issue with the whole concept of invasive species and points out that plants have always been and always will be on the move in the battle for survival. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been responsible for introducing 80,000 species to that country, and even cherry trees were not part of the American ecosystem until the Japanese gifted them to the president.
This is a beautiful book. I read it in one day, stopping only to eat dinner and go for a short walk, in the forest as I contemplated the varied species I encountered there.
10/10
The Passionate Reader 
Wonderful post 👍
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