Wicked Plants
The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
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Wicked Plants
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Narrated by:
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Coleen Marlo
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By:
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Amy Stewart
About this listen
Beware! The sordid lives of plants behaving badly. A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Amy Stewart, best-selling author of Flower Confidential, takes on over 200 of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.
Stewart renders a vivid portrait of evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, enlighten, and alarm even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.
©2009 Amy Stewart (P)2011 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.
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In 1637, one Dutchman paid as much for a single tulip bulb as the going price of a town house in Amsterdam. Three and a half centuries later, Amsterdam is once again the mecca for people who care passionately about one particular plant—though this time the obsessions revolves around the intoxicating effects of marijuana rather than the visual beauty of the tulip. How could flowers, of all things, become such objects of desire that they can drive men to financial ruin?
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Editorial reviews
Author/Gardener Amy Stewart and reader Coleen Marlo have followed up Wicked Plants with a new audiobook detailing the sinister elements that could be lurking in floral bouquets, backyard gardens, or even that plate of vegetables on the dinner table. Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities continues in the vein of Wicked Bugs, giving a brief history of known botanical problems: poison ivy, hemlock, oleander, etc., but also adding tidbits about obscure plants to be assiduously avoided. While Coleen Marlo's playful tone makes the most of Stewart's creative descriptions, both the text and the reader continually emphasize the need for safety and easy access to the phone number for Poison Control when reaction to a plant is ever in question.
Marlo clearly enjoys herself as she reads through "Death by Lawn", "Weeds of Mass Destruction", and "Vegetable Wickedness". It is the little things that are the most interesting, though, such as Marlo's presentation of "ordeal beans", which, for a while in Nigeria became a Monty Python-esque method of determining innocence or guilt through the ingesting the toxic calabar bean. Or how simply passing by a henbane plant could cause folks to swoon, which is why ancient Romans attempted to use the plant as an anesthesia.
Stewart's research encompasses plants that strangle, sicken, sting, cause hives, and in general irritate through their seeds, leaves, fragrance, and oils. Marlo's delivery brings forth the irony and/or humor inherent in plants with names from "vomitwort" and "corpse flower". There are fascinating facts as Stewart details and Marlo presents the sometimes fine line between plant as healer - castor oil from castor beans - to plant as murderer - the horrific poison, ricin, is an extract from that same castor bean plant. There is malevolence to be found in the book from unstoppable water hyacinth vines, fast-growing bushes of purple loosestrife, and the pestilence of killer algae in our oceans. Wicked Plants tells of a world pretty much taken over by insidious plant life, perhaps increasing its sinister control while a human population is distracted by smartphones, computer screens, and iPads. Fortunately for the audiobook aficionados, listeners can remain alert to the encroaching kudzu while enjoying Amy Stewart's highly entertaining writing and Coleen Marlo's enthusiastic descriptions in Wicked Plants. Oh, and remember to avoid exploding plants! Carole Chouinard
Critic reviews
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Compulsory Reading - Share with Everyone!
- By Charles Koenen on 04-12-20
By: Rowan Jacobsen
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Poisons
- From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean Calabar
- By: Peter Macinnis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
A wide-ranging and provocative look - teeming with little-known facts and engaging stories - at a subject of the direst interest. Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled audiobook, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature....
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5 out of 5 stars
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#MyNonFictionAddiction
- By IsleWait on 11-07-19
By: Peter Macinnis
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Mycophilia
- Revelations From the Weird World of Mushrooms
- By: Eugenia Bone
- Narrated by: Aimee Jolson
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 494
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 489
In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely awful, insufferable, racist author
- By Rs 🦇 on 11-25-19
By: Eugenia Bone
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The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,498
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
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The Fruit Hunters
- A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession
- By: Adam Leith Gollner
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Tasty, lethal, hallucinogenic, and medicinal - fruits have led nations into wars, fueled dictatorships, and even lured us into new worlds. Adam Leith Gollner weaves business, science, and travel into a riveting narrative about one of the earth's most desired foods.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting world...
- By Henry Scalfo on 07-16-08
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The Book of General Ignorance
- By: John Mitchinson, John Lloyd
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 322
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 322
Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British best seller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting.
- By A. Hawkbird on 12-07-08
By: John Mitchinson, and others
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Fruitless Fall
- The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis
- By: Rowan Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Rowell Gormon
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Many people will remember that Rachel Carson predicted a silent spring, but she also warned of a fruitless fall, a time with no pollination and no fruit. The fruitless fall nearly became a reality when, in 2007, beekeepers watched 30 billion bees mysteriously die. And they continue to disappear. The remaining pollinators, essential to the cultivation of a third of American crops, are now trucked across the country and flown around the world, pushing them ever closer to collapse.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Compulsory Reading - Share with Everyone!
- By Charles Koenen on 04-12-20
By: Rowan Jacobsen
-
The Reason for Flowers
- Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives
- By: Stephen Buchmann
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy 10 million flowers a day, and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion annually. Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, and perfumes while simultaneously bringing joy and health.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Only for the Flower Lover
- By Anonymous User on 01-19-16
By: Stephen Buchmann
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Quackery
- A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
- By: Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 973
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 843
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 843
What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Computer-generated Narrator. Dated Humour.
- By Nemo on 12-28-18
By: Lydia Kang, and others
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The Moth in the Iron Lung
- A Biography of Polio
- By: Forrest Maready
- Narrated by: Forrest Maready
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 489
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 430
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 428
A fascinating account of the world’s most famous disease - polio - told as you have never heard it before. Epidemics of paralysis began to rage in the early 1900s, seemingly out of nowhere. Doctors, parents, and health officials were at a loss to explain why this formerly unheard-of disease began paralyzing so many children. Why did this disease start to become such a horrible problem during the late 1800s? Why did it affect children more often than adults? Why was it originally called teething paralysis by mothers and their doctors?
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Root Cause
- By Circlekay1 Gulfport MS on 10-24-19
By: Forrest Maready
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The Drunken Botanist
- The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 943
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 823
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 814
Every great drink starts with a plant. Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley. Gin was born from a conifer shrub when medieval physicians boiled juniper berries with wine to treat stomach pain. The Drunken Botanist uncovers the surprising botanical history and fascinating science and chemistry of over 150 plants, flowers, trees, and fruits (and even a few fungi).
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4 out of 5 stars
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No more cheap tequila!
- By Cynthia on 03-23-13
By: Amy Stewart
-
Napoleon's Buttons
- 17 Molecules That Changed History
- By: Penny Le Couteur, Jay Burreson
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 309
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 269
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 270
Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of 17 groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wish one of the authors would have read this book
- By A.J. on 03-09-12
By: Penny Le Couteur, and others
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The Tree
- A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter
- By: Colin Tudge
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 80
There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field. From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world - throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe - bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not the book described in the Audible summary
- By E. Miller on 04-28-17
By: Colin Tudge
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Farmacology
- Total Health from the Ground Up
- By: Daphne Miller MD
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 316
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 313
Can urban farms reduce neighborhood crime? These may not sound like typical questions for a family physician to consider, but in Farmacology, Daphne Miller, MD, ventures out of her medical office and travels to seven innovative family farms around the country on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Miller also seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their research, along with stories from her own practice. Farmacology offers a profound new approach to healing.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Crystals and all - great book
- By Topherwayne on 02-22-20
By: Daphne Miller MD
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The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,423
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,514
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,476
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
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The Fever
- Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years
- By: Sonia Shah
- Narrated by: Maha Chehlaoui
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
In recent years, malaria has emerged as a cause célèbre for voguish philanthropists. Bill Gates, Bono, and Laura Bush are only a few of the personalities who have lent their names - and opened their pocketbooks - in hopes of curing the disease. Still, in a time when every emergent disease inspires waves of panic, why aren’t we doing more to eradicate one of our oldest foes? And how does a parasitic disease that we’ve known how to prevent for more than a century still infect 500 million people every year, killing nearly 1 million of them?
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Solid but not amazing account of malaria
- By S. Yates on 04-11-16
By: Sonia Shah
-
The Beekeeper's Lament
- How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America
- By: Hannah Nordhaus
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 856
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 762
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 764
Award-winning journalist Hannah Nordhaus tells the remarkable story of John Miller, one of America's foremost migratory beekeepers, and the myriad and mysterious epidemics threatening American honeybee populations.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
From a beekeeper
- By Argos on 06-14-17
By: Hannah Nordhaus
-
Seven Modern Plagues
- And How We Are Causing Them
- By: Mark Jerome Walter
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
According to veterinarian and journalist Mark Walters, we are contributing to - if not overtly causing - some of the scariest epidemics of our time. Through human stories and cutting-edge science, Walters explores the origins of seven diseases: Mad Cow Disease, HIV/AIDS, Salmonella DT104, Lyme Disease, Hantavirus, West Nile, and new strains of flu. He shows that they originate from manipulation of the environment, from emitting carbon and clear-cutting forests to feeding naturally herbivorous cows “recycled animal protein.”
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Frightening, truthful and a real eye opener
- By RobJD on 02-23-15
-
What's Eating You?
- People and Parasites
- By: Eugene H. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 124
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 91
In What's Eating You? Eugene Kaplan recounts the true and harrowing tales of his adventures with parasites, and in the process introduces readers to the intimately interwoven lives of host and parasite.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Squirm-inducing, horribly fascinating stories
- By Karin W. on 04-03-12
By: Eugene H. Kaplan
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4 out of 5 stars
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bunch of little articles
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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!
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2 out of 5 stars
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The narrator
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When Amy Stewart discovered a community of tree collectors, she expected to meet horticultural fanatics driven to plant every species of oak or maple. But she also discovered that the urge to collect trees springs from something deeper and more profound: a longing for community, a vision for the future, or a path to healing and reconciliation. In this slyly humorous, informative, often poignant volume, Stewart brings us captivating stories of people who spend their lives in pursuit of rare and wonderful trees and are transformed in the process.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book - mediocre narration
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The globetrotting naturalists of the 18th century were the geeks of their day: innovators and explorers who lived at the intersection of science and commerce. Foremost among them was Carl Linnaeus, a radical thinker who revolutionized biology. In What Linnaeus Saw, Karen Magnuson Beil chronicles Linnaeus's life and career in readable, relatable prose.
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In a book destined to become a classic, biologist and acclaimed nature writer Bernd Heinrich takes listeners on an eye-opening journey through the hidden life of a forest. A lifetime observer of the natural world shares his vast knowledge and reflections on the trees of the Northeast woodlands and the rhythms of their seasons, from the DNA contained in an apple seed to the great branches beyond reach.
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The Poisoner's Handbook
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In The Poisoner's Handbook, Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating book marred by production errors
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The Incredible Journey of Plants
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In this accessible, absorbing overview, Mancuso considers how plants convince animals to transport them around the world, and how some plants need particular animals to spread; how they have been able to grow in places so inaccessible and inhospitable as to remain isolated; how they resisted the atomic bomb and the Chernobyl disaster; how they are able to bring life to sterile islands; how they can travel through the ages, as they sail around the world.
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Fun and Lovely read
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Parasite Rex
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For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and the darkest shadows of science. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer takes listeners on a fantastic voyage into the secret universe of these extraordinary life forms that are not only among the most highly evolved on Earth, but make up the majority of life's diversity. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the parasite-riddled war zone of southern Sudan, Zimmer introduces an array of amazing creatures that invade their hosts, prey on them from within, and control their behavior.
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Fascinating and Horrible
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- By: Paul A. Offit MD
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,656
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,357
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,350
Pandora's Lab takes us from opium's heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the United States; from the rise of trans fats as the golden ingredient for tastier, cheaper food to the heart disease epidemic that followed; and from the cries to ban DDT for the sake of the environment to an epidemic-level rise in world malaria.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Stick to the science and drop the political slant.
- By Nancy Johnson Mercado on 06-03-17
By: Paul A. Offit MD
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Napoleon's Buttons
- 17 Molecules That Changed History
- By: Penny Le Couteur, Jay Burreson
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 309
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 269
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Story4 out of 5 stars 270
Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of 17 groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wish one of the authors would have read this book
- By A.J. on 03-09-12
By: Penny Le Couteur, and others
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The Nature of Plants
- An Introduction to How Plants Work
- By: Craig N. Huegel
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story5 out of 5 stars 66
Plants play a critical role in how we experience our environment. They create calming green spaces, provide oxygen for us to breathe, and nourish our senses. In The Nature of Plants, ecologist and nursery owner Craig Huegel demystifies the complex lives of plants and provides listeners with an extensive tour into their workings.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So informative!
- By Stephanie Mora on 08-17-22
By: Craig N. Huegel
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Our Native Bees
- North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them
- By: Paige Embry
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America's native bees - an endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies - is just as crucial. Our Native Bees is the result of Paige Embry's yearlong quest to learn more about these forgotten, yet fundamental, creatures. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Embry explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Meh
- By Kim on 02-27-19
By: Paige Embry
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Fact or Fiction
- Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths
- By: Scientific American
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 134
Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does stress cause gray hair? These questions are a sample of the urban lore investigated in this audiobook, Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths. Drawing from Scientific American’s “Fact or Fiction” and “Strange But True” columns, we’ve selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, useful, and just plain wacky topics confronted by our writers over the years.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fun!
- By J. L. Smith on 09-14-24
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Cursed Objects
- Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items
- By: J.W. Ocker
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 270
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 226
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
Beware...this book is cursed! These strange but true stories of the world's most infamous items will appeal to true believers as well as history buffs, horror fans, and anyone who loves a good spine-tingling tale.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good information!
- By Amelia on 07-29-21
By: J.W. Ocker
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Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs
- How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior
- By: Roger Lederer
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 600
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 493
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 491
When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don't see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs guides the listener through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter.
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5 out of 5 stars
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very dense but good info
- By K. on 03-20-19
By: Roger Lederer
What listeners say about Wicked Plants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ktina
- 01-26-18
Couldn't finish it
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I would recommend a print copy to someone who was very interested in plants. It's basically a research book, a list of plants.
Would you recommend Wicked Plants to your friends? Why or why not?
No, because it is basically a list of noxious plants and their characteristics. I thought it would be a nonfiction boo, k arranged as essays or themed chapter. Lists do not make entertaining reading.
What three words best describe Coleen Marlo’s performance?
Clear, accurate, educated.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Kindler
- 11-01-17
Reads like a Encyclopedic List
This was interesting but most of the plants were only lightly touched upon. I was hoping for a more detailed account of what they were and how they have been used. It was still interesting to find out how dangerous some plants can be and how some are used for common decoration.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ingrid
- 02-22-19
Interesting
Parts were very interesting but then it felt like everything could make certain people react. Having certain allergies and sensitivities I was eager to learn about this but I think this is a book that is better either with an accompanying PDF if there is one or just get the hardcover which hopefully has visuals or photos. If you’re into hiking or really into nature, this probably is a must read though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Lynn
- 01-09-18
A physical book would have been better.
The narration was good, don’t get me wrong, but I wish I had a physical book or even a kindle copy to make notes etc. it would be easier to look up things later. Amazed at how many common plants can make you sick or kill you.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Richard E Jackson
- 07-30-18
A catalog of toxic plants
Wide ranging but superficial. Hard to listen. Repetitive at times, could benefit from editing. A few interesting anecdotes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 01-27-23
Lots of information
I learned a lot from this book about plants that I had never heard of, and about plants that I knew about already. I love to learn new things. I will read this again probably.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Gretchen
- 06-15-24
Better in print
This book describes poisonous and noxious plants. It’s more a list than a narrative: fascinating, but definitely better in print.
The narrator is very staccato and doesn’t emphasize words that might make the format more engaging. I slowed the narration to 0.9 to keep up with the barrage of truly interesting information.
It’s a fun and informative book that doesn’t translate well to audio.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julia
- 10-10-12
For the Casual Nerd
Any additional comments?
This is an enjoyable book for those who also like to read tidbits of trivia, in this case about poisonous plants. I listened to this while I ran on the treadmill during my workout. Lots of neat stuff to learn about without being too weighed down with specific scientific speak. For the casual nerd who doesn't necessarily have to be into plants.
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34 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- CrunchySocks
- 04-27-18
More of a list
A lot of good info, no real story. Many of the factoids were repeated. Of course now I’ll never eat another plant again, but....
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ArtbyJenisse
- 04-02-21
These plants are no joke
The narration is a little stale, but there is good information to be had in this book.
You'll learn not only about things like Wolf's Bane and it's commonly known poisonous friends, but about weeds, trees, and flowers. It's really fascinating, give it a try.
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