Across their vast evolutionary history, plants have been instrumental in making the world we live in. With over 380,000 known species, these astonishing organisms are the source of much of the food we eat, provide the oxygen we breathe, help regulate the planet’s climate and sustain the animals that we breed. Put simply, without plants, the Earth would not be alive at all.
 
Yet there is still so much about plants we don’t know. Blending high-level science with rich storytelling, Dr Alex Bowles takes us on an odyssey through time and across landscapes – from the ancient plains of Mesopotamia and the ‘fertile crescent’, high into the misty Andes and deep into the fossilised forests of the Devonian. Along the way, he explores how plants have repeatedly transformed – and, in turn, been transformed by – life on Earth, while also contemplating how flora may hold the key to solving some of the most pressing challenges in our future.
 
A revelatory and timely account perfect for readers of Thomas Halliday’s Otherlands and Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life, Flora will inspire readers to look at plants and their essential role in our daily lives in a whole new light.