Celebrating J. R. R. Tolkien and The Flora of Middle Earth

"The father-and-son author team of Walter Judd and Graham Judd point out that when Tolkien created Middle-Earth, he was incredibly detailed about plant life..."

January 3, 1892

On this day, the English writer and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien was born.

Gardeners will enjoy a book by Walter S. Judd and Graham A. Judd, The Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium.
The book focuses on natural landscapes in Tolkien's work.

The father-and-son author team of Walter Judd and Graham Judd point out that when Tolkien created Middle-Earth, he was incredibly detailed about plant life:

In total, over 160 plants are explicitly mentioned and described… Nearly all of these plants are real species, and many fictional plants are based on scientifically grounded botanic principles.

Walter is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at the University of Florida. Graham Judd has a Master’s in Printmaking and teaches at Augsburg College and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

NPR’s review of this book says

Moved by Tolkien's passion for plants, the retired botany professor (Walter) spent years cataloging every plant that appeared in his writing, eventually compiling a list of 141 different species.

He teamed up with his son, Graham, a professional illustrator. And together, they embarked on a quest to transform that list into a botanical guide to Middle Earth.