The Botany of Desire (A Plant's-Eye View of the World) (Michael Pollan, 2001)

Everyone knows that humans breed plants in various ways.  The author's premise here was to try to look at the interaction from the perspective of the plants (example = the way flowers lure bees into spreading their pollen).  It was an interesting book, but not because that premise worked particularly well.  (Maybe there's a deeper game going on that I realize, but I don't think plants are manipulating humans.)

He focused on four plants:

1.  Apple (sweetness) - lots of discussion about the importance of apples on the American frontier, including lots of discussion about John Chapman.  He notes that ol' Johnny Appleseed was growing apples trees from seed - meaning that the crop would be inedible, usable only to make cider - meaning hard cider in those days - the primary hooch available on the frontier.  Author claims that the apple industry tried to reposition the Chapman story as Prohibition loomed (at which time it also invented (marketing) phrases like "an apple a day keeps the doctor away").

2.  Tulip (beauty) - lots of discussion about the tulip mania (1634-37).  Not very interesting.

3.  Marijuana (intoxication) - he discusses how marijuana seems to operate on the brain - an intensification of the senses, an ability to focus on one thing deeply (if for a limited period).  He compares this to Huxley's discussion of mescaline (peyote) - which Huxley thought aided perception by essentially turning off the perception filters we use (and need) to function efficiently. Not sure what to make of this.

4.  Potato (control) - I love reading about the potato (such as in this book).  A plant from the Americas that transformed Europe.  He went through the Ireland experience - British (anti-Catholic) laws preventing Irish from accumulating land so they are restricted to small plots; soil and climate not conducive to grains; potato (with a little milk) as a 100% complete diet for people and their few livestock; potato works beautifully on the small plots; requires so little work to plant, harvest, prepare (contributes to view of Irish as lazy); population rises from 3 million to 8 million; they all plant the same variety; blight; population back to 3 million.  So that's interesting, but the author was more focused on genetic engineering, how potatoes are grown in Idaho, the risks of monoculture.