The Plant Messiah

Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species

By: Carlos Magdalena

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

An impassioned memoir of saving extraordinary plants on the brink of extinction, by a scientist who has been called a "codebreaker" (Telegraph) and "an inspiration" (Jane Goodall)

Carlos Magdalena is not your average horticulturist. He's a man on a mission to save the world's most endangered plants. First captivated by the flora of his native Spain, he has traveled to the remotest parts of the globe in search of exotic species. Renowned for his pioneering work, he has committed his life to protecting plants from man-made ecological destruction and thieves hunting for wealthy collectors.

In The Plant Messiah, Magdalena takes listeners from the Amazon to the jungles of Mauritius to deep within the Australian Outback in search of the rare and the vulnerable. Back in the lab, we watch as he develops groundbreaking, left-field techniques for rescuing species from extinction, encouraging them to propagate and thrive once again. Along the way, he offers moving, heartfelt stories about the secrets contained within these incredible organisms.

Passionate and absorbing, The Plant Messiah is a tribute to the diversity of life on our planet and the importance of preserving it.

©2018 Carlos Magdalena (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"A gripping account... The work done by Magdalena and others like him is nothing short of miraculous. [The Plant Messiah] illustrates just how much can be done to save even species that all but the greatest optimist would consider doomed." (The New York Review of Books)

“The Plant Messiah’s storytelling structure and loving descriptions of rare plants are an unabashed appeal to emotion, attempting to light the same passion for the living world in Magdalena’s readers.”(Los Angeles Review of Books)

"For anyone who might have considered plants dull stuff, Mr. Magdalena delivers a thrilling and inspirational account of adventures in the botanical world."(Wall Street Journal)

Very informative, sometimes irritating

The author is very pleased with himself, to a degree that almost made me stop listening. But there were some great plant stories and it does seem an important subject. But come on, what kind of person would use the word Messiah, referring to themselves, even jokingly, in the title of their book?

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I Loved it. A must listen. Carlos shows the rarity and beauty of the planet.

Great for anyone who cares about conservation and is interested in botany

Interesting personal story of Carlos Magdalena and anecdotes of species that he helped bring back. Nice introduction to horticultural practices as well.