The flower of empire
Subtitle: an Amazonian water lily, the quest to make it bloom, and the world it created
By: Tatiana Holway
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9780195373899
Subjects: Victoria amazonica; Botanical gardens; History
Description: Narrates the story of the discovery of an Amazon water lily and its impact on Victorian life and culture, as prominent botanists of the day became obssessed in their quest to make the flower bloom in England.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue: Victoria's floras; title: Terra incognita; title: Perils and wonders; title: A floral sensation; title: An international tempest; title: Return to the wild; title: Cultivating Kew Gardens; title: His grace and his gardener; title: The flowering of Chatsworth; title: Golden square; title: Evergreens; title: Salvaging Kew Gardens; title: Trading favors; title: Trials and errors; title: The great stove; title: Reviving Kew Gardens.; title: Return to El Dorado; title: Paxton, inc; title: First bloom; title: Nature's engineer; title: Empire under glass; title: Epilogue: Victoria regia redux.