Killer Plants

Explore the darker side of nature with this accessible guide to choosing, growing, and caring for carnivorous and predatory plants like Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, sundews, and other spooky guys. Carnivorous plants: they're weird, they're gorgeous, and they're the perfect addition to your urban jungle of pothos, snake plants, and succulents. However, they can also be intimidating to grow and care for. Let Killer Plants be your guide as it walks you through the different types of carnivorous plants and how to keep each variety alive and well. The book answers the many questions you may have surrounding these freaks of nature, such as: Where the heck do I buy a pitcher plant? Can I grow it from a seed? Do I need to feed my carnivorous plant flies, or can it survive on water and light alone? What carnivorous plants are safe to have around pets and kids? I have a gnat problem -- what predatory plant can help?

Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundews are all examples of nature's insect traps. They use their sugary nectar to lure prey to them, before each carries out a unique killer plan of capture. The predatory power of the plants featured in this title will stun young students.

A beautifully illustrated field guide to the 60 deadliest plants on Earth. This intriguing guide puts a spotlight on Mother Nature’s most lethal plants, from those that can harm wild animals to the ones that can kill even humans. Some of these plants may be lurking in your own backyard. This illustrated compendium features full profiles of each plant, including interesting facts, important identifying characteristics, toxicity level, physiology, the biochemistry of toxins, how to spot each plant, and more. This is a beautiful but practical guide for botanists, foragers, gardeners, survivalists, and nature lovers alike. With this guide, you can learn what to avoid and what to do if you come into contact with these dangerous plants. With this field guide, you will: - Learn the natural history of each plant. - View humanity’s fascinating relationship with these plants over the centuries—from medicinal purposes and cosmetics to rituals and murder. - Discover the fatal effects and how these plants target the body, from organ failure and seizures to skin rashes and nausea. - Understand poisonous plants’ evolution, and how they developed toxicity to deter herbivores and other predators. Explore these stunning but deadly works of nature that can poison, maim, and intoxicate. From nightshade and hemlock to monkshood, oleander, and castor bean, this is your fascinating guide to 60 of the world’s most life-threatening plants.

The plant kingdom isn’t all sunshine and daisies – some plants pack a punch with poison, stingers, sap, and other dangerous qualities! This thrilling volume will introduce readers to a wide variety of Earth’s weirdest and deadliest plants while incorporating fun math questions. Quiz bubbles make the math feel like a game, and a handy answer key at the back of the book allows readers to check their progress, encouraging an independent learning experience. Fact boxes teeming with cool information and vivid photographs will further captivate readers in this fun, cross-curricular text.

Plants sit at the bottom of the food chain. They provide meals for the vast majority of animals on earth, but what if the food chain were upset? Strange as it may sound, there are places on virtually every continent where plants are the hunters and animals the hunted. Some plants move so quickly that insects do not know what hit them. Others lay elaborate traps to lure their prey. Featuring stunning full-color photographs, informative sidebars, and accessible text, this book will fascinate young readers as it introduces them to real meat-eating plants of the world.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine in "the best horror novel of the new century" (Stephen King). Also a major motion picture! Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation—sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site ... and the terrifying presence that lurks there. "The Ruins does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches.” —Entertainment Weekly “Smith’s nail-biting tension is a pleasure all its own.... This stuff isn’t for the faint of heart.” —New York Post “A story so scary you may never want to go on vacation, or dig around in your garden, again.” —USA Today

"Go for a hike in the woods and you're sure to see a wide range of plants. Many colorful flowers and fruits seem perfectly harmless. But don't be fooled by these beautiful plants. Some plants eat bugs, and some are poisonous, deadly enough to sicken or even kill a person! Get ready to explore some of the world's quietest killers"--