Microcosms

Sacred Plants of the Americas

Jill Pflugheber, Steven F. White

Stunningly beautiful confocal microscope images of 50 sacred plants of the Americas are accompanied by their scientific, historical, and cultural narratives.

265 x 290mm

264 pages

Hardback

ISBN: 978-1-906506-79-7

£40.00

Subjects: Natural History, Photography

Publication: October 2025

In Microcosms – Sacred Plants of the Americas, follow world-renowned expert Steven F. White on a transformative journey which brings together anthropology, art, spirituality, and ancient wisdom together with the mesmerising detail of Jill Pflugheber’s cutting-edge confocal plant microscopy. From the secrets of ayahuasca to the mystical experiences of psilocybin mushrooms, the ceremonial use of tobacco, and the roots of corn and potatoes, Microcosms reveals the inner lives of plants and fungi revered by Indigenous communities as healers, storytellers, and spirit-guides. Illustrating over 50 culturally-significant plants, Microcosms opens a portal into a world where ancestral knowledge and contemporary science converge to offer a truly visionary experience.

Pre-order now!

Jill Pflugheber, Steven F. White

Steven F. White’s interest in sacred plants began when he was 22, motivating him to visit a Cofan community in the Ecuadorean Amazon in 1977. During a transformative sabbatical year in 1993-94, he studied South American shamanism and actively participated in the Santo Daime Church on the island of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. White is the recipient of a Lannan Foundation residency and two Fulbright grants for a literary project in Chile and curricular development as a Senior Specialist in Nicaragua.  Jill Pflugheber is a Microscopy Specialist who taught Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Research Methods in Fluorescence and Confocal Microscopy, and Research Methods in Cell Biology at her alma mater St. Lawrence University for almost twenty years.   

Find out more

"Microcosms inspires a sense of awe and profoundly connects us with our past... catalysing important discoveries in the future."
Dr. Stephen J. Haggarty, Harvard Medical School and Director, Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Mass General Center for Genomic Medicine

"A visually outstanding insight into a deeper realm."
Dr Giovanni Aloi, Art Institute of Chicago, Editor of Chief in Antennae: The Journal of Nature

"A rich and spellbinding resource."
Lewis Daly, Lecturer in Social & Environmental Anthropology, UCL

Of related interest

Food Planet Future

Green Universe

Pollen (compact ed.)