The Atlas of Botanical Oddities (Rare and Notable Plants and the Habitats That Produced Them)

Join New York Times bestselling author Joey Santore for a botanical journey around the globe to encounter 200+ astonishing plants through spectacular photography, fascinating science, and Joey’s signature unfiltered voice.

Discover the bizarre, beautiful, and brilliantly adapted plants that prove nature is far stranger than fiction—and botanist Joey Santore, creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, is the ideal guide to their wonderfully complex world. In The Atlas of Botanical Oddities, Joey draws on his firsthand botanical adventures to introduce some of the most extraordinary species he’s encountered across Mexico, the United States, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Tasmania, and beyond. 

Meet Australian trigger plants that physically interact with their insect pollinators, blood-red parasitic “vampire cups” that draw sustenance from their hosts, plants that look exactly like the rocks they grow amongst, and dozens of other evolutionary marvels. Along the way, Joey explains how these unusual plants came to be, the remarkable adaptations that allow them to survive, and the ecosystems that shaped their evolution—all with his trademark combination of botanical knowledge, field experience, irreverent humor, and unapologetically unconventional storytelling that made his previous book, Concrete Botany, a New York Times bestseller.

Equal parts visual feast, botanical adventure, and celebration of evolution’s ingenuity, this captivating book includes:

• 200+ extraordinary plants representing some of the planet’s most fascinating botanical oddities
• 500+ vivid photographs revealing bizarre forms, structures, habitats, and adaptations in amazing detail
• Intriguing evolutionary stories explaining how and why these unusual plants developed their remarkable traits
• Firsthand botanical adventures drawn from Joey’s travels through diverse and often challenging landscapes
• A truly global perspective, with discoveries spanning North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceania

Whether you are a plant lover, a nature enthusiast, or simply curious about the world you live in, The Atlas of Botanical Oddities will change the way you see the astonishing diversity of the plant kingdom.