Roots And Branches

Roots And Branches is about the people who gathered the early information on the presence, distribution and abundance of the plant species that comprise the flora of Lakeland today. It examines how these botanical foot-soldiers went about their task and the institutions such as museums, societies and associations that expedited their endeavours. Botanical tourism, encouraged by a goodly supply of guidebooks, coupled with the expansion of the road and railway systems, brought ‘off-comers’ into the area to complement the work of the local botanists. The contributors were a motley crew: clergymen, through doctors, businessmen, tradesmen, mountain guides and gardeners, to farmers, landed gentlemen and professional botanists.