Pt. I. Plants of the ancient and classical worlds : from the dawn of time to the 1450s. Timeless traditions
Mesoamerican and Andean civilisations
Mediterranean civilisations
The Silk Road to Cathay and beyond
Pt. II. The great age of maritime exploration : from the 1450s to the 1750s. Empire building in the Golden Age
Imperial tales of the Near East
European colonisation of the Americas
Pt. III. Scientific imperialism and exotic botany : from the 1750s to the 1900s. The reach of empire
New Holland and the South Pacific
Anglo-India and the Dutch East Indies
North America's western frontier
Central and South America
Piercing the Oriental armour
Commerce and the insatiable taste for novelty
Pt. IV. Living fossils : the 1900s and beyond. Wollemi dreaming.
