Plant Attack!: The Fascinating Ways Flora Defends Itself

Plants face a variety of threats: Plant Attack!: The Fascinating Ways Flora Defends Itself discusses some of their defenses against being eaten and the plants’ adaptations to adverse environmental conditions. Some will be familiar, e.g., rose prickles and cactus spines, the itchy oil of poison ivy, or the hard shells of coconuts. Others may not be as well-known, e.g., orchids that drop buds to preserve energy, or passionflowers with colours that warn off egg-laying insects. A dozen species are included, each shown in a double spread with a description of its usual habitat and defense adaptation. Additional details (“Get to Know Me!”) shared from the plant’s first-person viewpoint help to explain their defenses further. “Fierce Facts” are inserts with extra information. A final page suggests that humans defend themselves like plants: eating healthy foods, sheltering from the elements, flicking off a mosquito...and invites consideration of other commonalities. The “Glossary” includes terms found in bold in the text, some of which are scientific words that will be unfamiliar to the target audience. Note the term ‘flora’ used in the subtitle is only defined in context.

Readers will be intrigued by the battles some plants wage, not always successfully. The rose, for instance, is still eaten by caterpillars despite its prickles. Cactus spines do not deter all the desert animals that would make a meal of the host plants. But some plants have insect allies, such as the ladybugs that eat rose-attacking aphids. Among the less familiar plants, the corpse flower will interest readers for the fact that its gross (to us) smell attracts insects that help pollinate it. Balsams have ballistic seed dispersal mainly for propagation, but here this adaptation is described as a defense mechanism, too, as it can repel insect attackers. Mushrooms are included for their bioluminescence that attracts insects to control other bug pests, although the fact that they aren’t plants (fungi form their own kingdom) isn’t mentioned. There is a lot of neat new information, though, for curious youngsters to think about: did you know barrel cactus can be cooked and eaten like candy?

Digitally created illustrations are bold, bright and animated, allowing readers to imagine the plants in their typical habitat. Cartoon-style drawings also give them ‘personalities’ to go along with the kid-friendly plant POV paragraphs, a strategy that may help kids remember specific plant attributes.

Plant Attack!: The Fascinating Ways Flora Defends Itself will be a good introduction to a fascinating aspect of plant biology, highlighting characteristics that many may know little about.