Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology

Adrian D. Bell

Timber Press, 2008 - Gardening - 431 pages

The diverse external shapes and structures that make up flowering plants can be bewildering and even daunting, as can the terminology used to describe them. An understanding of plant form-plant morphology-is essential to appreciating the wonders of the plant world and to the study of botany and horticulture at every level. In this ingeniously designed volume, the complex subject becomes both accessible and manageable. The first part of the book describes and clearly illustrates the major plant structures that can be seen with the naked eye or a hand lens: leaf, root, stem, reproductive organs, and seedlings; special sections focus on vegetative propagation, and the morphology of grasses, orchids, and cacti. However, plants are dynamic organisms, constantly growing, changing, and becoming more elaborate, and understanding the development of a plant or plant part is as important as describing its final form. Part II focuses on how plants grow: bud development, the growth of reproductive organs, leaf arrangement, branching patterns, and the accumulation and loss of structures. This classic book, now revised and expanded to include the latest information on plant morphology, more than 1000 exquisite line drawings including 119 that are new to this edition, and nearly twice as many photographs as the previous edition, is remarkable for its user-friendly organization, high-quality illustrations, and extensive cross-referencing. Aimed at students of botany and horticulture, enthusiastic gardeners and amateur naturalists, it functions as an illustrated dictionary, a basic course in plant morphology, and an intriguing and enlightening book to dip into.

What people are saying

User Review -

A must for every student of botany, and all those who want to understand enjoy plants and their wonderful forms across diverse ecosystems. Rules of organisation of plant form presented in a manner it makes reading easy, complete and gives reader chance to relate to differences among plants. Book provides insights to simplicity and complexities of botany as seen through plant form. 

User Review -

This book is very good

Contents

• Preface: 9
• Preface to the Original Edition: 10
• How to Use This Book: 13
• Introduction: 15
• MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION: 17
• CONSTRUCTIONAL ORGANIZATION: 257
• Index: 393

About the author

Adrian D. Bell, Ph.D, is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He has devoted his career to studying, teaching, and writing about plant morphology, serving as Senior Lecturer in the Schools of Plant Biology and Biological Sciences at the University of Wales and as Cabot Fellow at Harvard University.

Alan Bryan studied with Adrian Bell at Bangor University, graduating with honors in Botany. A keen gardener with a lifelong interest in plants, he subsequently trained as a nurse but remains a botanist and illustrator at heart.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology; Life sciences / botany
• Author: Adrian D. Bell
• Illustrated by: Alan Bryan
• Contributor: Alan Bryan
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Timber Press, 2008
• ISBN: 088192850X, 9780881928501
• Length: 431 pages
• Subjects: Gardening / Flowers / General; Science / Life Sciences / Botany