The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From Acacia to Zinnia is an interdisciplinary exploration of the various relationships between plants and people that have arisen over the course of human history. As civilizations discovered desirable properties of their local flora, they developed techniques to improve these properties in successive generations of the plants while increasing and controlling the products yielded at harvest. Aesthetic, culinary, and medicinal properties of plants have also made them a focus of art, literature, and music.

Cultivated varieties, including crops grown for food, ornamental plants cultivated for aesthetic qualities, and trees harvested for timber, are listed by common name. A few entries are cross-listed when there is some variation in the common name, and the index provides additional coverage. Entries typically describe the botanical features of the plant, its history as a cultivar, the specific attributes of the plant that affect how and why it is grown and used, and its vulnerability to disease and pests. The entries vary considerably in focus: for example, “tobacco” describes the plant’s interaction with human health and the world economy, while “rosebush” focuses on the symbolism roses have had for different cultures. This is a merit for an interdisciplinary work because it allows the reader to understand the most distinctive characteristics of a given plant, which may emanate from the study of botany, anthropology, culinary arts, medicine, and even economics.

As with any encyclopedia, both clarity and context are at times sacrificed in the service of communicating complex information in a restricted space. In some cases the writing is poorly organized, jumping from topic to topic. The further reading suggestions vary in both quantity and focus, with some entries pointing to introductory works, including websites that may lack rigorous provenance, and others pointing to complex technical works. The bibliography is comprehensive and would be helpful for identifying works that present additional context for the information in the entries.

The chief value of this work is its presentation of a cross-section of content typically found in gardening, agricultural, and culinary reference volumes, enhanced by information from other fields of study. This work would be particularly useful to high school and college students looking for introductory information related to the many ways in which humans interact with plants, including food, shelter, medicine, art, occupation, and recreation. It is also a delightful way to discover how plants connect disciplines and may be of interest to writers, historians, and others outside the study of botany.