FLOWER HUNTERS

Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin (Oxford University Press, £16.99)

The story that dominates Flower Hunters by Mary and John Gribbin involves the overlapping lives of 11 botanical explorers, from the early 18th century to the early 20th century. Many of them faced extreme situations - severe weather, local hostility, hunger and disease - but left a legacy that has had a lasting impact on both science and our gardens.

These adventures begin with the 17th-century botanist John Ray, the botanical equivalent of his contemporary Isaac Newton. Ray did more than anyone else to lay the foundations for the scientific study of plants, establishing the modern concept of species - a group of plants which are never born from the seed of a different species.

Joseph Banks is a particularly colourful character. He was the botanist who sailed with Captain Cook on his first circumnavigation of the globe. His name is linked with the many varieties of Banksii - the Australian honeysuckle - many of which are now available in British garden centres. He also discovered the New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax, now a popular garden plant.

The nursery men and plant-hunting brothers William and Thomas Lob helped feed the Victorian passion for gardens, conservatories and hothouses, though William is mostly remembered for the trees he introduced, many of which he discovered in the forests of North America. His greatest discovery was the giant redwood Sequioadendron giganteum, which can live for 1,000 years and grow to a height of 90m. However, the seeds of the monkey puzzle tree, which he sent home during a plant-finding mission to South America, really established his name.

Others mentioned in Flower Hunters include David Douglas, Robert Fortune, Richard Spruce, Carl Linnaeus, Francis Masson, Carl Peter Thunberg, Marianne North and Joseph Dalton Hooker, who have all influenced the way we plant our gardens.

This superb book, illustrated with coloured plates of both the intrepid botanists who scoured the world and the plants they discovered, brings their exploits to life in an approachable and colourful way. It also adds an extra dimension to a gardener's understanding of plants.

Mary and John Gribbin will be discussing Flower Hunters at the Oxford Literary Festival on Tuesday, April 1, at 10.30am.