In The Cabaret of Plants, Mabey explores the plant species which have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, & upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty & belief. Picked from every walk of life, they encompass crops, weeds, medicines, religious gathering-places & a water lily named after a queen. Beginning with pagan cults & creation myths, the cultural significance of plants has burst upwards, sprouting into forms as diverse as the panacea (the cure-all plant ginseng, a single root of which can cost up to $10, 000), Newton`s apple, the African `vegetable elephant` or boabab
- & the mystical, night-flowering Amazonian cactus, the moonflower. Ranging widely across science, art & cultural history, poetry & personal experience, Mabey puts plants centre stage, & reveals a true botanical cabaret, a world of tricksters, shape-shifters & inspired problem-solvers, as well as an enthralled audience of romantics, eccentric amateur scientists & transgressive artists. The Cabaret of Plants celebrates the idea that plants are not simply `the furniture of the planet`, but vital, inventive, individual beings worthy of respect
- & that to understand this may be the best way of preserving life together on Earth.