Harris begins with an introduction suitable for his intended wide audience, many of whom may not be familiar with the ways plants have influenced the way we live. It was a pleasure to discover why his 50 favorites made the cut. What grabbed my attention was how odd other choices seemed at first: “Thale cress?” I wondered. Some choices will be well known to many readers, such as wheat ( Triticum aestivum, Poaceae), sugar ( Saccharum officinarum, Poaceae), coffee ( Coffea arabica, Rubiaceae), tea ( Camellia sinensis, Theaceae), corn ( Zea mays, Poaceae), and rice ( Oryza sativa, Poaceae). As one who studies history as well as herbal medicine, I expected some of the “mainstage players,” as Harris describes them in his table of contents. In an impressively slim volume, Harris covers five major arenas in which plants have had indispensable effects on humans: in history and trade, as food, in the politics of empires, as medicine, and in industry. Harris cites the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, not the Chinese Pen Ts’ao or documents from Indian Ayurveda, though the narrative ranges globally in the story of ethnobotany. The point of view is Western, as indicated in the subtitle. His objective is to show a wide range of potential readers that plants matter to all life forms, even in the most modern urban settings. Contributing new information on old plants is a feat in itself, and Harris has managed to do so in an inviting, conversational style. In this book, he has written an excellent and lively set of fifty essays, deftly and artistically weaving scholarly research with ancient and modern botanical history. Stephen Harris is the Druce Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria and a university research lecturer. Oxford, UK: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford 2016. What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? Western Civilization in Fifty Plants by Stephen Harris.
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