Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81602 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

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. He has published scientific papers in four areas of botanical research: three-dimensional vascular anatomy of monocotyledonous plants, branching patterns of rhizomatous plants, computer graphic simulation of branching patterns in plants, and branching and bud structure at the canopy surface of tropical rainforest trees. His other interests include gardening with tropical plants in a temperate climate and managing a wildlife environment of pond, copse and wildflower meadow, close-up photography, wood carving, driving and maintaining a vintage 1926 automobile, and travel to warm destinations.

Customer Reviews

even better than the first edition - a gem of a book
The first edition of `Plant form' came out in 1991, and this second edition is even better; all except for the size and shape. But then, it is a much expanded edition.

The title tells you what the book does: it explains plant morphology. That sounds rather dry, but the book is so well designed, with clear lay-out, lots of colour photos and over a thousand line drawings, that it makes complicated systems look understandable - and that is quite something! And for those of us who mix up our inflorescence types, or who have temporarily forgotten those tree architectural models, or who just wish to know more about bud terminology: you find it all here. While the beginner is even luckier! Instead of having to plow through hardcore textbooks, this single volume gives you a straight course in many many aspects of plant form, and makes it all look easy, too. Large sections on leaf/root/stem/inflorescence morphology; sections on specific families such as sedges or cacti; and a section of over a hundred pages on growth and development, with branching patterns, dormancy, and the like. It is all there; and it is all made clear.

This is a book made for browsing, and for learning. It is beautifully designed; the internal cross-referencing of terms is a model of clarity; the line drawings are excellent, with clear labelling; the photos are clear, and give examples from both the temperate and the tropical floras (which is not all that usual, and commendable). For professional botanists, for students, for anyone interested in plants - very highly recommended!

A pleasure to read even for the casual reader.
The book is aimed squarely at the botanist, and the book would be almost impenetrable to the casual reader if it were not for the well crafted line drawings which serve to enhance, and in some cases take the place of, the text. It is the fine balance between the text and those beautiful drawings that extends this book's reach from the professional and budding (sorry!) botanist to the more casual reader.

As a consequence of the intended audience many terms, but by no means all, are used without definition or introduction, this makes the book slightly more difficult for the casual reader, but by no means impossible. I am no botanist yet I am finding this book a fascinating and pleasurable read - the diversity of plant structures to be found in our world is truly wonderful, and this book will only make you realize that there's more to wonder at the you've imagined up to now.

The casual reader can equally well read the topics as arranged (i.e. cover to cover) or dip into the book at whatever topic takes their fancy at that time. The vast majority of double pages are arranged with text and diagrams so there is no reason to feel overwhelmed by too much text.

Throughout the book there are numerous internal cross references and references to other papers and works; so for those that are enthused by this book there is plenty of follow up reading available!

If the author wished to reach a wider audience then a glossary of the scientific terms (usually latin based), with a brief description of the etymology of each, would have been an excellent addition. But given that such readers are not the target audience, that the book it practically one long glossary anyway and that the book has a decent index, this is a minor shortcoming.

Overall: a well structured book, well illustrated, considerately cross referenced.