The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World

The tulip is one of what Pollan refers to as the four “canonical flowers” (61), which also include the rose, the peony (particularly in Asia), and the orchid. These flowers are symbols of beauty, and the tulip was so prized in early 17th century Holland that it caused a feverish speculation in tulips referred to as “tulipomania” (93). Pollan tries to figure out why the tulip was regarded so highly, and he concludes in part that its form is a perfect mixture of Apollonian (symmetrical, rational) and Dionysian (wild, uncontrolled) forms and that it brought color to the monochromatic Dutch landscape. 

Pollan investigates the human desire for hallucinogens through tracing the rise of the marijuana plant, whose cultivation has been forced indoors and whose growth is now manipulated by growers hungry for profits. He delves into the reason humans crave hallucinogens and concludes that they slow down time so that humans can break away from the quotidian and connect with the transcendent. In addition, marijuana contains molecules that are similar to the cannabinoids the brain produces, meaning that our brains are closely connected to substances in nature. 

The potato is Pollan’s symbol for the human desire to control plants. The Irish planted the potato on the marginal land the British left them, and today, scientists produce genetically engineered potatoes that have built-in resistance to pests. However, as Pollan points out, the use of "monoculture" (193)—or growing one crop—leaves crops open to wide-spread disease, such as the famine that occurred in Ireland in the 19th century. Genetic engineering can also cause unintended effects that we have not even yet figured out. Therefore, our control over nature is far from complete.