Gregory J. Kenicer – författare

Scotland’s plants define its landscape – from the heather moorlands of its iconic habitats to the weeds and a garden plants of its towns and cities. Plants have shaped the country’s domestic economy and culture over centuries, providing resources for agriculture and industry as well as food, drink and medicines. They have even inspired children’s games and been used as components in magical charmsDrawing together traditional knowledge from archives and oral histories with the work of some of the country’s finest botanical artists, this book is a magnificent celebration of the enormous wealth of Scottish plant lore.

Plants have played an enormous role in human culture since time immemorial. This fascinating book explores some of the many ways in which trees, herbs, ferns, mosses and other organisms such as fungi have been used in supernatural and magical traditions across Europe.  Individual entries are packed with historical examples and anecdote to explain exactly why and how each of the plants listed came to be used in particular ways. Covering such diverse themes as alchemy, luck, curses divination, magical medicine, transformations and witchcraft, this foray into the supernatural side of botany underlines that for thousands of years our use of plants has been astonishingly diverse and has played a vital role in the way we make sense of both the natural and supernatural worlds around us.