Deceptive Beauties: The World of Wild Orchids

Ziegler, Christian

ISBN 10: 0226982971 / ISBN 13: 9780226982977

Published by University of Chicago Press, 2011

About this Item

Very clean hardcover book and dust jacket. Black cloth boards with white lettering on cover and spine; no fading; very tiny spot of wear to lower board edge, pinhead in size. Binding is tight and square, hinges are sound. All pages and edges are clean, with clean black endpapers - no names, writing or marks. Illustrated with dazzling full color photographs throughout. Introduction by Michael Pollan. 184 pages. Clean dust jacket is unchipped, one tiny closed tear to fold edge; enclosed in new archival quality removable mylar cover. This lavish book features more than 150 unprecedented color photographs taken by the author himself as he trekked through wilderness on five continents to capture the diversity and magnificence of orchids in their natural habitats.

Seller Inventory # 033520

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Deceptive Beauties: The World of Wild Orchids
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226982971
• ISBN 13: 9780226982977
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • gardening/horticulture
  • Natural History
  • 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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.