A fascinating exploration of the world’s most unusual plants

Whether it’s an arctic heather that can create subtropical conditions within its leaves or a dwarf mistletoe that can shoot its seeds up to 50 feet away, plants demonstrate remarkable strategies in coping with and surviving their environment. They are often exposed to bitter cold, relentless winds, intense heat, drought, fire, pollution, and many other adverse growing conditions. Yet they are still able to survive and often even thrive.

Quiver Trees, Phantom Orchids and Rock Splitters: The Remarkable Survival Strategies of Plants showcases these exceptional plants with absorbing information and stunning photos that will inspire a new respect for nature’s innovation and resilience.

Jesse Vernon Trail's profile page

Jesse Vernon Trail is an author, instructor, curriculum developer and horticulturist in environment, ecology, sustainability issues, horticulture and the natural history of plants. He has had articles published in The Ecologist, Garden Making, Canadian Gardening, Plant and Garden, Fine Gardening, Gardenwise, Harrowsmith Country Life, Alive, and Outdoor Canada. Jesse lives in Vernon, B.C.

“Informative and fun, this is a book that will be enjoyed by all who love the outdoors.” — Cayocosta 72 Book Reviews

“From hummingbirds on the high slopes of the Andes to sugarbirds on the South African Cape, Vernon takes the reader on an awe-inducing journey to discover the secret life of pollinators and the plants that depend upon them … You’ll delight in the surprising, unusual, and downright amazing strategies plants use to cope and copulate.” — Sierra Magazine

“Peppered with eye-catching photographs and illustrations, Quiver Trees, Phantom Orchids and Rock Splitters showcases the many weird and wonderful ways plants adapt to survive and spread their progeny … A great book for anyone interested in botany, and particularly in adaptations.” — The Gardener