author
Richard Folkard
Best known for a richly curious Victorian study of plants, folklore, and old beliefs, this writer brought together myth, legend, and cultural history in a way that still feels inviting today. His work turns the natural world into a map of stories people have told for centuries.
1 Audiobook
About the author
A 19th-century author writing as Richard Folkard, jun., he is best known for Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, first published in 1884. The book explores the myths, traditions, superstitions, and folk beliefs attached to plants, gathering material from many cultures into one wide-ranging volume.
What makes Folkard memorable is the mix of reference work and storytelling in his writing. Rather than treating plants only as botanical subjects, he shows how flowers, trees, and herbs have been woven into religion, poetry, custom, and everyday imagination.
Reliable biographical detail about his life is limited in the sources I could confirm, so this overview stays close to what is clear from his published work: he was a writer with a strong interest in folklore and the cultural meaning of the natural world.