Carlos Magdalena, “the plant messiah”

The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World’s Rarest Species. By Carlos Magdalena. Viking; 217 pages; £16.99.

WITH his long brown locks and his knack for rescuing rare flora from extinction, it is easy to see why Carlos Magdalena has come to be known as “the plant messiah”. A botanical horticulturalist at Kew Gardens in London, he denies having a messiah complex. But his book, which tells of his efforts to track down and revive long-lost species, suggests otherwise.

Growing up in Spain as the son of a florist, Mr Magdalena’s ability to nurture wildlife was his “miracle of the loaves and fishes”. In his 30s he won an internship at Kew, where a “sixth sense” for breeding dying plants attracted interest and scepticism. Even after he saved several doomed species, “some people still did not believe the good news”. In recent years he has been sent around the world to train other gardeners—or rather, “disciples...