Overview

An illuminating account of urban botany in the British Isles – its ecology, history and cultural significance. The walls, pavements, lawns, parks, playing fields, verges and waste ground that make up the built environment of Britain and Ireland are home to an extraordinary array of plant species. Native and non-native species together find ways to endure in often harsh and uncompromising habitats. In Urban Plants, leading botanist Trevor Dines tells the stories of our urban flowers, ferns and conifers: how they arrived, how they survive, and how a select few seize the opportunity to become masters of the streets, thriving in the face of constant upheaval and change. We learn how our villages, towns and cities have changed over time – from Roman Britain to reconstruction after World War II – and the resulting geographical variation that exists in our flora today, such as London Rocket at the Tower of London or the newly evolved York Groundsel recently discovered in a railway station carpark. Trevor also looks to the future and the potential impacts of invasive species, herbicides and climate change, as well as the concept of urban rewilding. Illustrated with around 350 colour photographs, maps and diagrams, as well as text boxes exploring key species and habitats, this is a fascinating deep dive into the biology, ecology and cultural impact of the plants that set up home alongside us.

Full Product Details

9781399407496

Table of Contents

Reviews

Dr Trevor Dines is a veritable botanical encyclopaedia, the kind of person you wish you could carry in your pocket on every walk. This excellent book provides a fascinating exploration of the science and ecology of urban plants and is a fitting tribute to their resilience and adaptability. Another superb addition to Bloomsbury’s British Wildlife Collection, I would urge all naturalists to buy it and use it. -- Iolo Williams, naturalist and broadcaster

It is very rare that you get to say this, but this book is everything I wanted it to be … What makes this book so wonderful is the writing, which sings from page one. It is a hymn to the cracks in the pavements, of loose mortar and porous surfaces, and the poetry they provide. -- Alys Fowler * Gardens Illustrated * This book changed the way I thought about plants, and pavements and time spent in built up areas. I immediately started looking down a lot more on the morning after I got my copy. [...] The book is beautifully designed and is packed with attractive and informative images of plants, maps and graphs. On top of that the writing is wonderful and slips easily between anecdotes which make good points and explanations of complex issues. Buy it as a present for some people you love over Christmas and they will thank you for it. -- Mark Avery, author and conservationist Dr Trevor Dines is a veritable botanical encyclopaedia, the kind of person you wish you could carry in your pocket on every walk. This excellent book provides a fascinating exploration of the science and ecology of urban plants and is a fitting tribute to their resilience and adaptability. Another superb addition to Bloomsbury’s British Wildlife Collection, I would urge all naturalists to buy it and use it. -- Iolo Williams, naturalist and broadcaster A poetic and learned illustrated guide to the ecology underpinning urban flora, this is a deeply researched work that is relevant to academics and amateurs alike. -- Alys Fowler * Gardens Illustrated * [The] observations in this readable book are fascinating. * The English Garden *

Author Information

Trevor Dines is a consultant botanist and author with more than 30 years’ experience of investigating, conserving and championing our wild flora. His career began with a project to publish the ground-breaking New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora, which involved mapping every native and naturalised plant in these islands. Campaigning for better management of road verges and the creation of wildflower meadows, he was Plantlife’s botanical specialist for 20 years and created #NoMowMay to encourage wilder lawns. A regular contributor to the Radio 4 Today programme, BBC Breakfast and Countryfile, Trevor also presented Channel 4’s Wild Things and wrote the accompanying book The Wild Things Guide to the Changing Plant Life of the British Isles.

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