Weeds

The plant Rosebay Willowherb was called 'bombweed' because of its rapid colonization at bomb craters.

8216;Weeds: In Defense of Nature8217;s Most Unloved Plants8217; Ecco,by Richard Mabey: After reading 8216;Weeds,8221; Richard Mabey8217;s loving tribute to the common weed,you may still pull out the herbicide but feel a little respect for the plants you8217;re zapping.

Mabey,one of Britain8217;s most respected nature writers,loses no time launching into praise for the plants that seemingly flourish everywhere,even managing to sneak into the tidiest of gardens unless the owner practices constant vigilance.

He discovered his fascination with weeds in his 20s,when he was working in an outer section of London that presented 8216;wildness in the city.8217;

In this stretch of urban wasteland,slowly building into an industrial stronghold,Mabey discovered weeds galore,including immigrants from three continents.

In sharing his amazement with the plants that 8216;become weeds when they obstruct our plans,or our tidy maps of the world,8217; he writes that they can be 8216;botanical thugs8217; that destroy everything they cover,but can also be great restorers.

After World War II,bomb sites in England became so covered with plants that many people claimed the Germans had dropped those seeds as well as bombs.The plant Rosebay Willowherb was called 8216;bombweed8217; by residents because of its rapid colonization of bomb craters.

A weed invasion took place in London,with bracken carpeting the nave of St. James and thorn apples growing in the cellars of Cheapside.

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One observer counted 126 species in what Mabey calls a weed storm.

The history of these plants,which includes once popular varieties imported for use in gardens and later falling out of favor to those used as medicines and food,includes many myths and beliefs.

Mabey can spin both frightening yarns about some species and laugh-out-loud stories about his adventures 8211; 8211; and those of others 8211; 8211; in the wonderful world of weeds.

But his admiration for the ability of weeds to survive natural disasters,human destruction,climate change and almost every eradication effort ever launched against them is the main reason to read this fascinating book 8211; 8211; that and the lessons that these unloved plants may have for humans as they face an uncertain future.