Orchid Fever, by Eric Hansen (Methuen, £6.99 in UK)

IF an international customs officer really could identify the rarest of precious orchids, he'd be running a high-powered botanical…

IF an international customs officer really could identify the rarest of precious orchids, he'd be running a high-powered botanical facility. This is merely one of the ironies inherent in the world of plant espionage. Eric Hansen didn't know much about flowers of any kind when he led two men to the Borneo rain forest in pursuit of an orchid known as paphiopedilum sanderianum. It put Hansen on the scent of a new book, which is as much about obsession as horticulture. Its domain traverses the globe and the tale of guilt, greed and even lust is told in sharp, snappy chapters, peopled with characters as diverse as the orchid species itself. One man captures fragance for a living, others judge orchids while eating doughnuts. "You must discover yourself through daily life," says the natural born killer who will only go over the edge should his pollen be touched. Greenhouses are raided by gun-touting officials, academics double-cross and destroy each other, nurseries are fortresses, even the hothouses of Kew offer little respite. This is an amazing read. One is lured - virtually seduced - by the story, which took five years to research and is recounted over cups of coffee in cities and places you suddenly feel you know. It's folksy yet gripping and all because, as one commercial orchid grower in upstate New York put it: "You can get off alcohol, drugs, women, food and cars but once you're hooked on orchids, you're finished".

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