Wonders of the plant kingdom : a microcosm revealed / Wolfgang Stuppy, Rob Kesseler, Madeline Harley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stuppy, Wolfgang, author.

Kesseler, Rob, author.

Harley, M. M. (Madeline M.), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plants.

Botany.

Seeds.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (146 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2014]

Summary:

Compared to the obvious complexity of animals, plants at a glance seem relatively simple in form. But that simplicity is deceptive: the plants around us are the result of millennia of incredible evolutionary adaptations that have allowed them to survive, and thrive, under wildly changing conditions and in remarkably specific ecological niches. Much of this innovation, however, is invisible to the naked eye. With Wonders of the Plant Kingdom, the naked eye gets an unforgettable boost. A stunning collaboration between science and art, this gorgeous book presents hundreds of images of plants taken with a scanning electron microscope and hand-colored by artist Rob Kesseler to reveal the awe-inspiring adaptations all around us. The surface of a peach—with its hairs, or trichomes, and sunken stomata, or breathing pores—emerges from these pages in microscopic detail. The dust-like seeds of the smallest cactus species in the world, the Blossfeldia liliputana—which measures just twelve millimeters fully grown—explode here with form, color, and character, while the flower bud of a kaffir lime, cross-sectioned, reveals the complex of a flower bud with the all-important pistil in the center. Accompanying these extraordinary images are up-to-date explanations of the myriad ways that these plants have ensured their own survival—and, by proxy, our own. Gardeners and science buffs alike will marvel at this wholly new perspective on the world of plant diversity.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Incredible Life of Plants

Precious dust

Fruits and Seeds

Phytopia

The ‘Making Of’ Wonders of the Plant Kingdom: How Science Becomes Art

The Millennium Seed Bank: The World’s Largest Plant Conservation Initiative

Appendices

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 151) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-226-21608-X

OCLC:

1090496212