The Secret Language of Plants

Art, Nature & Symbolism

By: Hope B. Werness

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Hardcover | 8 April 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover
240 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.8 x 17.6 x 2.8

Hardcover

RRP $54.99

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An elegant reference guide to the meaning of plants in art and life.

From early Egyptian reverence for the acacia and the lotus, to the Victorian language of flowers and the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe, we have long sought meaning in nature. Significance has often been ascribed to particular plants, referencing their uses as food or medicine, their associations with saints and heroes, or more abstract or aesthetic qualities like fortitude, beauty and strength.

Weaving together botany, mythology, folklore, religious texts, and centuries of art and literature, this richly illustrated, elegant reference guide engages the cultural significance and underlying meanings of over fifty plants. Each entry is accompanied by a work of art or botanical illustration, bringing together the world of art and plants in an elegant and seamless fashion and deepening our understanding of how plants have been used by artists in the past and what they mean to us today.

This is the ideal reference volume for the artistically inspired botanist as well as a pleasure to read and leaf through.

About the Author

Dr Hope Werness is an art historian specializing in non-Western and modern European art. She has taught for over twenty years at California State University, Stanislaus. She is the author of, among other books, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art (2000) and The Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art (2006).

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