Shakespeare's Plants and Gardens: A Dictionary

Thomas (English literature, Univ. of Birmingham, England; Academic Patron of the Open Univ. Shakespeare Society) and Faircloth's (freelance lecturer and writer) value-added concordance brings a contemporary academic treatment to William Shakespeare's use of plant and garden terminology. The terms in the roughly 350 entries appear in the forms in which Shakespeare used them and are alphabetically arranged. Most words are discussed in a minimum of a half-page, with those heavily used in the Bard's works—lily, garden, forest—explored over multiple pages. Entries place the word/item in its historical, social, and literary context; identify its placement within Shakespeare's writings; explicate his use of the word; and quote the associated line(s). The volume has an intriguing appendix in which each of the playwright's works is listed alphabetically by title, beneath which is a collective of all the plant- and garden-based words used within it. Other dictionaries of Shakespeare-related botany exist, some of the fresher versions originating in the 1980s; there are also older volumes from the 1800s. If looking at Leo H. Grindon's 1883 The Shakespeare Flora on the Internet Archive, although it's wonderful, isn't quite enough for your patrons, Thomas and Faircloth's volume is recommended.