SAVE THE TREES

Did you know that some waterlilies came dangerously close to extinction in recent years? Or that at one point in the 1990s, there was only one café marron plant left in the world? We didn’t, but a new autobiography by Kew Gardens’ botanical horticulturalist Carlos Magdalena is here to update us. Magdalena has been described by David Attenborough as ‘The Plant Messiah’ – a moniker that he thinks was partly inspired by his ‘post-biblical, but pre-hipster beard’, and which also serves as the book’s title. ‘The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species’ ( Viking, £16.99) chronicles Magdalena’s adventures trawling the banks of the Amazon to find rare breeds and bring them back to Kew. Along with its light-hearted stories and beautiful tropical photography, Magdalena hopes the book will raise awareness of plants that are within a hair’s breadth of extinction.