Rich scientific knowledge presented with a unique perspective and witty writing
Hidehiro Inagaki, a bestselling botany author with a solid fan base!
Uncover the ingenious survival strategies of a weed often dismissed as insignificant!

Hidehiro Inagaki, a leading Japanese botanist and bestselling science author who has secured a solid fan base in Korea with works such as “Botany Stories That Will Keep You Reading All Night” and “Fighting Plants,” has now focused on the survival strategies of weeds, which are considered useless plants.
When we think of weeds, we think of them as nuisances and troublemakers that grow endlessly no matter how much we pull them out, tormenting humans.
But in fact, weeds are very clever plants that have overcome their 'innate weakness' with 'strategic strength'.
They employ various survival strategies to sprout alone in a barren place where no one cares.
They do not sprout blindly just because the environment is good, but carefully wait for the optimal time.
And they are masters of transformation who change their traits to suit different environments, brave pioneers who constantly seek out new places to breed, and unexpected challengers who always prepare a plan B to survive.
By employing these versatile strategies, weeds have been able to emerge from the weakest to the strongest plants in the fierce competition for survival in the plant kingdom.
In fact, weeds grow in places created by humans, such as roads, fields, and parks, which are special environments that do not exist in nature.
Therefore, weeds are special plants that have adapted to special environments and achieved special evolution.
Hidehiro Inagaki reveals that not just any plant can become a weed, and that weeds are the elite, carefully selected from a special field.
Looking at the ecology of weeds introduced in this book, we realize that weeds are no longer strange, useless plants, but rather great plants that have survived in nature through various strategies.

Weeds are often categorized as 'nuisance weeds', but in reality, it is quite difficult to become a nuisance weed.
Weeds are said to be common and insignificant plants, but that doesn't mean they grow everywhere.
Also, not all plants can become weeds.
It is quite a special thing for a plant to sprout and spread on the roadside or in a field, and it takes that special ability to become a nuisance.
The property of plants that makes them prone to becoming weeds is called 'weediness', and only plants with this weediness can survive as weeds; not all plants can become weeds.

--- From "Chapter 1: On Weediness"

Weeds grow back no matter how many times you pull them out, so it's like trying to get rid of them completely, down to the roots. However, there is only one way to safely get rid of weeds.
It is 'not pulling out weeds'.
What does it mean to not pull out weeds? And what happens if you don't remove them? Weeds multiply rapidly if you don't pull them out.
Then, not only weeds but also large plants such as shrubs grow one after another, forming thickets, and trees grow luxuriantly to form a forest.
Plants called weeds are generally said to be weak in competition with other plants.
So weeds cannot grow in a rich forest.
--- From "Chapter 2: Weakness Makes Us Strong"

However, it is important to sow weed seeds at as irregular a time as possible.
What if weed seeds sprouted all at once, like vegetable or flower seeds? Then, when humans pull out the weeds, they all perish.
So, the sprouting period is intentionally staggered to allow for sporadic emergence.
In the human world, this kind of different personality is called 'individuality', but in the weed world, this individuality is very important.

--- From "Chapter 3: The Cleverness of Waiting for the Right Time to Sprout"

Because weeds are prone to change, such mutations occur frequently.
For example, there are types of rabbit grass that produce a poison called cyanide and types that do not.
In the northern regions of Europe, there are types that do not produce poison, but in the southern regions, there are types that produce poison.
In the southern regions, there are snails that eat the clover, so the clover produces a poison to protect itself.
However, in the cold northern regions, there are no pest snails, so the rabbit grass does not produce poison.

--- From "Chapter 4: Changing Yourself According to the Environment"

There is also a structure called a closed flower.
Everyone knows that violets bloom in spring, but not many people know that violets are closed flowers that bloom in summer as well.
As the days get warmer in summer, fewer insects visit flowers.
Even in such a summer, the violets have flower buds, but the buds never open.
In fact, violets do not open their flower buds, but rather the stamens attach directly to the pistils and pollinate the flower.
This is a closed flower, but no one notices it because the closed flower is green in the bud state.
The previously introduced clown plant also uses its brain to bloom diligently, but in the summer, it blooms closed flowers in the bud state at the location where the leaves are attached.
In this way, weeds provide the insurance of self-pollination while pollinating other flowers.
The weed strategy is to always have several options available rather than choosing just one.

--- From "Chapter 5: Preparing Plan B to Survive"

On unpaved roads, it is common to see plantains growing along the tire tracks.
Among the scientific names of the plantain, the genus name is 'plantago', which is a Latin word meaning to move with the soles of the feet.
Another Chinese character name is 'Chajeoncho車前草', which also comes from the saying that it grows anywhere along the road.
The reason it grows along the road like this is because people or cars have carried the seeds.
In this case, being stepped on is not something to be endured, much less a challenge to be overcome.
It is a good use of that point that it can only spread widely if it is stepped on.
There are weeds that multiply by being stepped on by people, and among the weeds that grow in cities where people gather, there are many that have seeds that are bumpy and structured so that they can easily stick to the bottom of shoes.
Humans are also contributing to the widespread spread of weed seeds without even realizing it.
--- From "Chapter 6: Finding New Places to Breed"

The control method using herbicides is called 'chemical control'.
However, if you blindly rely on herbicides, it will result in the emergence of resistant weeds that do not respond to herbicides.
Therefore, weeds must be removed by combining various weeding methods, not just herbicides.
Also, if you try to get rid of weeds completely, you will inevitably end up resorting to herbicides, and naturally, the number of times you spray herbicides will increase.
Therefore, it is suggested to use various weeding methods to suppress weeds to a level that does not cause damage rather than completely eradicating them. This is called 'Integrated Weed Management (IWM).'

--- From "Chapter 7: The Tenacious Battle Between Weeds and Humans"

People have been using weeds since ancient times.
For example, oats, also known as oatmeal, were originally a weed growing in barley fields called maggot.
Oats grew vigorously even in places and climates where barley did not grow well.
It is not known whether they thought it would be better to cultivate oats, but oats were cultivated and became oatmeal.
Wild plants can be improved to become cultivated plants, and crops improved from wild plants are called primary crops.
In contrast, oats evolved from a wild plant into a weed called oat, and then the weed oat was bred to create a crop.
Plants that evolved from weeds and became crops are called secondary crops.
Rye, the raw material for rye bread, like oats, was originally a weed in a barley field but was later used as a crop. Job's tears, the raw material for Job's tears tea, is also a secondary crop created by improving the weed Yeomju.
--- From "Chapter 8: Special Abilities Are Needed to Become a Weed"

Organisms living in similar environments compete fiercely, and only the best survive.
However, if the living environments are different, they can coexist.
Although it is the iron law of nature that only the best survive, many creatures live there.
In other words, every living thing is number one in its own domain.
Is being number one important, or being the only one? You probably already know the answer.
All living things are number one.
And we have a place where we can be number one.
This place is only one.
That is, all living things are number one and only one.

--- From "Chapter 9: The Number One and Only Weed"