Passion Flowers

"Lost flower of the Andes is blooming in Britain." This headline in the Daily Telegraph celebrated the last remaining example of Passiflora lourdesae, a Venezuelan herbaceous climber that was raised from a cutting by John Vanderplank—the only successful attempt from a dozen cuttings sent to botanists around the world. The story of this dramatic recovery from extinction is just one of the delights of Passion Flowers. The book documents more than 150 species, with more than 120 of them illustrated in color.

This edition has been updated throughout.