Botanical Curses and Poisons

The Shadow-Lives of Plants

De: Fez Inkwright

Narrado por: Leslie Howard

Duración: 7 h y 15 m

Resumen del Editor

Discover the folklore and history of our most toxic plants.

"If you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)

In both history and fiction, some of the most dramatic, notorious deaths have been through poisonings. Concealed and deliberate, it's a crime that requires advance planning and that for many centuries could go virtually undetected. And yet there is a fine line between healing and killing: The difference lies only in the dosage!

In Botanical Curses and Poisons, Fez Inkwright returns to folkloric and historical archives to reveal the fascinating, untold stories behind a variety of lethal plants, witching herbs, and funghi. Going from A to Z, she covers everything from apple (think of the poisoned fruit in "Snow White") and the hallucinogenic angel's trumpet to laurel, which emits toxic fumes, to oleander (a deadly ornamental shrub), with each plant beautifully illustrated by the author herself. This enthralling treasury is packed with insight, lore, and the revealed mysteries of everyday flora-including the prevalence of poisoning in ancient Rome, its use in religion and magic, and common antidotes - making this perfect for gardeners, writers, folklorists, witches, and scientists alike!

©2021 Fez Inkwright (P)2021 Tantor

More than deadly plants

I learned quite a bit from this book. Learn the lore behind why a plant is thought to be poisonous, to it's chemical compounds. It's narration is clear and concise.

Great stories

Enjoyed listening to the 'back stories' of each herb and plant. Worth the listen

Worth it

Very interesting. This book weaves together facts, quotes, historical items, and mythology very well. I definitely enjoyed it

Great book, narration needs editing

Really enjoyed the storytelling of this book and bought the print version. The narration would benefit from editing as there are many words that are mispronounced.

Interesting and full of history and information

I loved this. A good balance between facts and folklore and history and myths. I have been looking for a book like this. Great!

a delightfully wicked read

I found this a fantastic read. I enjoy a good folk lore lesson with my plant biology. highly recommend for anyone looking to spice up their botanical knowledge or expand their spell list.

all the nice stories

i enjoyed all the nice stories in here, an intersection of fairy tales and botany

Not specifically about poisonings

(As posted in Goodreads)
Ok, I took a long break in the middle of reading this because it wasn't really what I thought it was- I had thought it was going to be about using poisonous plants to poison people- specific cases. When it went into folklore and non poison and non- details about the actual plants, I took a break.
Upon completion, I realized that it was more than that. There WERE actual details about the plants, and it was really MORE than just specific cases of poisonings. I learned a more complete background of, yes, poisonous plants, but more details about them. It was very interesting and thought provoking beer in

Too much mysticism and too little biology

This book relies too much on mysticism and legends. Felt like half the book was filled with legends and most biology was skimmed through. Not my favorite read by a long shot. If you're into mysticism, this is your book, otherwise you'll be waiting for it to end like I did.

The narrator

The narrator is way too breathy and over dramatic for my taste. She mispronounces a lot of words, I wish she would have at least googled the once not in English. The book is very disorganised as well, though there is some interesting information