Ferns

Lessons in Survival From Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants

By Fay-Wei Li

A 400-million-year journey through the surprising history of Earth's most ancient plants.


Ferns are the most remarkable of plants, both complex and beautiful. Among Earth's most ancient plants, their story reveals much about our planet's history. Ferns embarks on an exhilarating 400-million-year journey through the world of these astounding plants. It explores how ferns first evolved, how they continuously adapted to their environment and survived every mass extinction, how they enrich human life but can also be fatal, and what their evolutionary history can tell us about our own planet.

Written by scientists with a passion for communicating with the widest audiences and illustrated with jewel-like details by an award-winning botanical artist, Ferns has much to say about our planet's botanical past, present, and future. This beautiful coffee table book is the perfect gift for fern enthusiasts and gardeners alike.

  • Stunning Illustrations: Award-winning botanical artistry brings each fern to life in stunning detail,
  • Natural Science Made Approachable: Written by scientists who specialize in communicating to broad audiences, complex history and science is made engaging and accessible
  • Perfect Gift: Nature lovers will delight in this beautiful book
     
In Stock
$60.00 RRP
ISBN
9781958417850
Publish date
06 May 2025
Category
Gardening
Format
Hardback
Page count
192
Weight
861 grams
Dimensions
246 x 190 mm

About the author

Fay-Wei Li grew up in Taiwan and studied for his Ph.D. at Duke University, where he and his advisor, Kathleen Pryer named a new fern genus Gaga after Lady Gaga. In 2017, Fay-Wei joined Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University as an assistant professor. His fern research has featured in the New York Times,  the Economist, and Rolling Stone magazine. 

Jacob S. Suissa completed his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. As a classically trained botanist and evolutionary biologist, Jacob asks how plants build their bodies, how they function, and how they have evolved across geologic time, with a focus on ferns. Jacob runs the science communication video series, Let's Botanize, which has 166k followers on Instagram and 57k followers on TikTok.

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