In keeping with the spirit of the season, this column will take a slight departure from its usual focus on historical aesthetics. The subject of this column the book, titled “Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities” by Amy Stewart, does dwell in the realm of gardens with a past.

Published earlier this year, Stewart wrote within her introduction, “Some of the plants in this book have quite a scandalous history. A weed killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother (white snakeroot.) A shrub (poison sumac) nearly blinded Frederick Law Olmstead, America’s most famous landscape architect.” She continued, “Within the plant kingdom lurk unfathomable evils.”

Stewart then added, ”I didn’t write this book to scare people away from the outdoors. Quite the opposite is true. I think that we all benefit from spending more time in nature — but we should also understand its power.” Stewart then compared the potency of some plants with a rogue wave, not understanding its true power and ignoring that potential could prove fatal.

For 233 pages Stewart details plants that wreck havoc on humans and animals. Many of the plants listed are accompanied by illustrations. This catalog of wicked plants is primarily listed alphabetically. However, not all of the subjects of this book are dangerous. Some, like the corpse plant, are literally stinkers. In the final few pages of this collection, Stewart even lists gardens throughout the world that cultivate poisonous plants. Some of these poison gardens date back centuries and were once part of apothecaries’ gardens.

She has also created specific sub-categories, such as “Botanical Crime Family.” Stewart added, “Ever notice how criminal tendencies tend to run in the family? A few plant families seem to have more than their fair share of black sheep. The characteristics that set them apart — stinging hairs or milky sap or lacy foliage — also gives them away.” Examples of these crime family plants are some of the nightshade plants such as mandrake, tobacco, henbane, belladonna and datura (moonflower.)

Stewart also covers plants that are harmful to our pets. For instance, she wrote, ”All parts of lilies are toxic to cats, causing kidney failure and death within 24 to 48 hours.”

Part of the book also details invasive plants that are taking over both natural and cultivated landscapes. One invader is the loosestrife with its spikes of purple flowers. One plant is capable of producing more than 2.5 million seeds per season. According to Stewart, those seeds can lay dormant for 20 years.

 “If this book entertains, alarms, and enlightens you, I’ve done my job,” Stewart wrote. “I’m not a botanist or a scientist but rather a writer and a gardener who is fascinated by the natural world.”

“I confess that I am enchanted by the plant kingdom’s criminal element. I love a good villain ... There is something beguiling about sharing their dark little secrets. And these secrets don’t just lurk in a remote jungle. They’re in our own backyards.”

For more information on the book, go to www.wickedplants.com or www.amystewart.com.