Botanica Fantastica: The illustrated guide to fantastical plants from fictional worlds

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Alison Flood

Emma Tudor-Bloch

Botanica Fantastica brings to life the astonishing fictional plant creations of some of the world's favourite authors and creators.

Featuring over 100 illustrations, specially drawn by artist Emma Tudor-Bloch to visualise these species as if real, this book will combine expert analysis of these iconic creations and the worlds they inhabit, as well as exploration of the real-life species that inspired the authors. From Middle Earth and Hogwarts to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Zelda, and from poverty grass and cordyceps to nirnroot and triffids, every self-respecting fantasy or supernatural imagining has its own botanical world full of characterful and powerful plants.

Created with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and New Scientist comment and culture editor Alison Flood, Botanica Fantastica is a sumptuously illustrated journey into the bizarre botanical creations of some of science fiction and fantasy's most ingenious minds.

Contents include:
- Nightlock, The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
- Weirwood trees, A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin
- Firemoss, Cosmere universe, Brandon Sanderson
- Ents, Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Lethe's bramble, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Tesla trees, Hyperion Cantos, Dan Simmons
- Redweed, The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
- Vines, Zahrah, Nnedi Okorafor
- Wheel trees, The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman
- The World Tree, The Broken Kingdoms, NK Jemisin
- Moly, Circe, Madeleine Miller
- Fungus, The Last of Us
- Vines, Stranger Things
- Nirnroot, Elder Scrolls