Plants are not simply the "furniture" of the planet, but are individual beings worthy of respect, suggests Richard Mabey, who explores the plant species which have awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Scouring the globe as well as cultural and religious history for some astonishing examples, Mabey introduces Newton's apple, the African "vegetable elephant" or baobab; the mystical, night-flowering Amazonian cactus known as the moonflower; and the cure-all plant ginseng, a single root of which can cost up to $10,000.