A01=Christian Ziegler
A23=Natalie Angier
A24=Michael Pollan
adaptation
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
arctic
Author_Christian Ziegler
automatic-update
beauty
biodiversity
botany
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=WNP
cloud forests
color
conservation
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
diversity
environment
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
expedition
exploration
flowers
gardening
habitat
hardy
hybrids
Language_English
mountains
natural history
nature
nonfiction
orchidelirium
orchids
PA=Available
pheromones
plants
pollination
preservation
Price_€20 to €50
propagation
PS=Active
scents
science
semi-deserts
softlaunch
species
tropical
victorian
Product details
- ISBN 9780226982977
- Weight: 1247g
- Dimensions: 26 x 25mm
- Publication Date: 30 Oct 2011
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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Confucius called them the "king of fragrant plants," and John Ruskin condemned them as "prurient apparitions." Across the centuries, orchids have captivated us with their elaborate exoticism, their powerful perfumes, and their sublime seductiveness. But the disquieting beauty of orchids is an unplanned marvel of evolution, and the story of orchids is as captivating as any novel. As acclaimed writer Michael Pollan and National Geographic photographer Christian Ziegler spin tales of orchid conquest in "Deceptive Beauties: The World of Wild Orchids", we learn how these flowers forests to the Arctic, from semi deserts to rocky mountainsides; how their shapes, colors, and scents are, as Darwin put it, "beautiful contrivances" meant to dupe pollinating male insects in the strangest ways. What other flowers, after all, can mimic the pheromones and even appearance of female insects, so much so that some male bees prefer sex with the orchids over sex with their own kind? And insects aren't the only ones to fall for the orchids' charms.
Since the "orchidelirium" of the Victorian era, humans have braved the wilds to search them out and devoted copious amounts of time and money propagating and hybridizing, nurturing and simply gazing at them. This astonishing book features over 150 unprecedented color photographs taken by Christian Ziegler himself as he trekked through wilderness on five continents to capture the diversity and magnificence of orchids in their natural habitats. His intimate and astonishing images allow us to appreciate up close nature's most intoxicating and deceptive beauties.
Christian Ziegler is a biologist-turned-photographer specializing in tropical natural history. He is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Magazine, GEO, and Smithsonian, among others. He is an associate for communication with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and a founding fellow of the International League of Conservation photographers.
