"The Private Life of Plants has already been viewed by 60 million Britons....And they stayed riveted
for...five weeks to watch plants digest mice alive, strangle their hosts, trick male bees into copulating with
their flowers, or ignite forest fires with chemicals to give their seedlings a better start in life. Vivid lives
of hectic, electrifying action emerged, and even the hundreds of botanists consulted for the series found themselves
gaining new insights into plant behavior."
--Time(International Edition)
Princeton University Press
March, 2000
Summary
Based on the immensely popular six-part BBC program that aired in the United States during the fall of
1995, this book offers what writer/filmmaker David Attenborough is best known for delivering: an intimate view
of the natural world wherein a multitude of miniature dramas unfold. In the program and book, both titled The
Private Life of Plants, Attenborough treks through rainforests, mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and home
gardens to show us things we might never have suspected about the vegetation that surrounds us. With their extraordinary
sensibility, plants compete endlessly for survival and interact with animals and insects: they can see, count,
communicate, adjust position, strike, and capture. Attenborough makes the plant world a vivid place for readers,
who in this book can enjoy the tour at their own pace, taking in the lively descriptions and nearly 300 full-color
photos showing plants in close detail.
The author reveals to us the aspects of plants' lives that seem hidden from view, such as fighting, avoiding or
exploiting predators or neighbors, and struggling to find food, increase their territories, reproduce themselves,
and establish their place in the sun. Among the most amazing examples, the acacia can communicate with other acacias
and repel enemies that might eat their leaves, the orchid can impersonate female wasps to attract males and ensure
the spreading of its pollen, the Venus's flytrap can take other organisms captive and consume them. Covering this
remarkable range of information with enthusiasm and clarity, Attenborough helps us to look anew at the vegetation
on which all life depends and which has an intriguing life of its own. He has created a book sure to please the
plant lover and any other reader interested in exploring the natural world.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Travelling
Feeding and Growing
Flowering
The Social Struggle
Living Together
Surviving
