Short Stories
The short stories listed here have a strong grounding in botany - either the plants themselves play a large part in the story, or the author uses vivid botanical imagery for scene setting. All of them effortlessly shift the meaning of plants from biological to symbolic and back again, anchoring emotion in sensual detail.
Suggestions for additions to this list? Drop me a note.
William Faulkner: An Odor of Verbena
Have a look at this last chapter of The Unvanquished to learn about the power of sensual detail and its transformation into symbol and metaphor.
Ursula Le Guin: Vaster than Empires and more slow
Originally published in New Dimensions 1, 1971. Reprinted in The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Harper and Row, New York 1975
A team of explorers lands on a planet inhabited only by plant-like life forms. A botanically smart exploration of the relationship between empathy and fear.
Ursula Le Guin: Direction of the Road
Originally published in Orbit 14, 1973. Reprinted in The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Harper and Row, New York 1975.
A car accident, and the theory of relativity, told from the perspective of a roadside oak.
Ursula Le Guin: Diary of a Rose
A dystopian demonstration of what a touch of botanical Latin can do for your story.
(you-tube audio, 28 min)