Today marks the official release of a fantastic new reference book in the strange and often misunderstood realm of surreal botany. In A Field Guide to Surreal Botany, Two Cranes Press have collated dozens of reports from field correspondents documenting botanical specimens little-known to mainstream science. In many cases these specimens have never before been documented, and the sheer detail contained within each entry is a testament to the persistence and courage--or some might say foolishness--of the authors.

We are taken on a compelling tour, beginning with the Americas and passing through Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, before encountering specimens that may be found worldwide. Surreal botany by its very nature precludes full comprehension by the human mind, yet one feels the authors have managed to capture more than just tantalizing glimpses of these rare and exotic botanical specimens. Artist Janet Chui has endeavoured to illustrate each specimen based on the detailed accounts of the aforementioned adventurers, bringing these specimens to life in a way mere words cannot.

When Editor Jason Erik Lundberg announced his intention to produce a surreal botany field guide, I knew the time was ripe for finally disclosing to the world my own research into a highly unusual specimen: Trochilium avifructus. I first stumbled upon this specimen, more commonly known as the Avian Trumpetflower, whilst perusing H. Francis Bellamy's seminal work, The Exotic Botany of Central and Southern America (1875, Wallaby Press). In this weighty tome, Bellamy recounts the time he had explored the western rim of the Valley of Mexico in 1851 and found hummingbirds feeding from the large red flowers of a climbing vine. This was no ordinary vine, however. He had in fact come across the plant known to the Aztecs as the Huitzilopochtli Vine, and his discovery of its true nature shocked him to his very core. The heretical nature of Bellamy's book led to its suppression by the scientific community, who at the time ridiculed Bellamy and vowed that his shocking ideas would not be permitted to disrupt their carefully ordered classification systems. If not for my chance discovery of Bellamy's book in the dusty corner of a small antique store, the world might still be deprived of this wonder contained within its pages.

While Bellamy's account of the Avian Trumpetflower was truly compelling, details were still rather scant, so I took it upon myself to research the plant in more detail. I will not bore you with the minutiae, but suffice it to say my research took me from studying the migratory patterns of the hummingbirds feeding in my own backyard to the Mexican wilderness, involving months of painstaking observation and boredom. If only I'd brought along a documentary crew to film it all.

Mine is but one entry in the veritable cornucopia of surreal botany contained within this book. Avid plant collector that I am, I would dearly love to get my hands on some of these specimens. What would our cats make of the Kitty Willow? What would the neighbours think of a bunch of Screaming Mimis growing wild in the woodpile? Would there be room under our growlights for the Time Cactus, and would it get along with the rest of the cacti and succulents? Could I find space in the backyard for a Thuringian Shade-tree, a patch of Dream Melons, a crop of Baby Cabbage, or perhaps a Big Yellow Flower of Unnecessarily Obvious Information? More to the point, how would I obtain such exotic plants? For now I suppose I shall have to be satisfied with browsing the pages of the field guide and sincerely hoping that some of its more dangerous or disturbing specimens don't really exist!

A Field Guide to Surreal Botany is now available for ordering online at the Two Cranes Press website.