The Book of Wild Flowers: Reflections on Favorite Plants

Artist Lewin (Angie Lewin: Plants and Places) and writer Stocks (Forgotten Fruits) collaborate to create a charming book that shares Lewin’s favorite plants that grow wild in Great Britain. The 21 entries aren’t all native to Great Britain, and readers might not agree that all of them are wildflowers. But it’s a wide-ranging list: dandelion, yellow rattle, kidney vetch, devil’s-bit scabious, alexanders, thrift, white and red clover, snake’s head fritillary, wild carrot, corn poppy, plantain, ramson, primrose, campion, ivy, snowdrop, marsh cinquefoil, cow parsley, goat’s beard, yarrow, and teasel. Lewin’s lovely, stylized illustrations of the plants, in muted colors, include watercolors, linocuts, wood engravings, and screenprints. She doesn’t, however, reflect on what each plant evokes or means to her. Stocks’s beautifully descriptive vignettes of the plants include their common and scientific names (and their meanings), along with a detailed botanical description, preferred habitat, distribution, and facts and folklore about the plant. He also writes about the wildlife and insects associated with the plants and their related species.