A review by ajayasranna
The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species by Carlos Magdalena

4.0

Imagine, for a moment, the full import of the word "extinct". An entire species, permanently snuffed out of existence on the only habitable planet in the universe that we know. While we mostly picture exotic animals in our mind's eye when we hear the word 'endangered', there are thousands of species of plants, teetering on the edge, pushed to their limits due to human interference. Enter Carlos Magdalena, promising another kind of human interference in the opposite direction. The book opens with a fascinating account of how Carlos works works on the last cafe' marron plant in Mauritius and brings it back to life from the prospect of extinction. He repeats the feat with the Nymphae Thermarum thanks to his obsessive, creative and brave approach. One understand the travails and difficulties in propagating stubborn species and the ingenuity involved in some of these endeavours. I learnt that there are many plant species that have stopped reproducing in the wild. I also learn about some mavericks of the plant world- like some Nymphae night flowering species which are female on the first day of blooming but soon turn male on the second night. Or the dragon orchid , the Drakea ,which mimics the female of particular wasp, going as far as secreting a pheromone to attract the male wasp, who are tricked into mating what they think is a female wasp but instead end up pollinating the orchid.
This is an important book. We could all do with some inspiration to conserve and preserve before it is too late. A real eye opener.