Research Guides: Botany: Plant Anatomy (2024)

The Nature of Plants by Craig N. Huegel

Plants play a critical role in how we experience our environment. They create calming green spaces, provide oxygen for us to breathe, and nourish our senses. In The Nature of Plants, ecologist and nursery owner Craig Huegel demystifies the complex lives of plants and provides readers with an elucidating journey into their inner and outer workings.Beginning with the importance of light, water, and soil, Huegel describes photosynthesis, plant circadian rhythms, and how best to position plants to receive optimal sunlight. He explains choosing artificial lights for landscaping, giving lucky bamboo its twisted shape, and tricking flowers like poinsettias to bloom at a specific time of year. He reveals how plants use water, what paths it takes to move nutrients and fuel growth, and why too much?or too little?can hurt. He also explains what essential elements plants need to flourish and what friendly bacteria, fungi, and insects help make a healthy soil.Sections on plant structure and reproduction focus in detail on major plant organs?roots, stems, and leaves?and cover flowering, pollination, fruit development, and seed germination. The intricacies behind how plants reproduce are unraveled, including why not all flowering plants need pollinators, how it can take decades for some plants to produce offspring, and whether parents recognize their kin. Huegel even delves into the mysterious world of plant communication, exploring the messages and warnings conveyed to animals or other plants through chemical scents and hormones.With color illustrations, photographs, and real-life examples from his own gardening experiences, Huegel equips budding botanists, ecologists, and even the most novice gardeners with knowledge that will help them understand and foster plants of all types.

Call Number: QK45.2 .H844 2019

How Plants Work by Stephen Blackmore; Peter Crane

A large-format, heavily illustrated look at the wide adaptability and rich diversity of the plant kingdom All the plants around us today are descended from simple algae that emerged more than 500 million years ago. While new plant species are still being discovered, it is thought that there are around 400,000 species in existence. From towering redwood trees and diminutive mosses to plants that have stinging hairs and poisons, the diverse range of plant life is extraordinary. How Plants Work is a fascinating inquiry into, and celebration of, the complex plant kingdom. With an extended introduction explaining the basics of plant morphology--the study of plant structures and their functions--this book moves beyond mere classification and anatomy by emphasizing the relationship between a plant and its environment. It provides evolutionary context drawn from the fossil record and information about the habitats in which species evolved and argues for the major influence of predation on plant form. Each section of the book focuses on a specific part of the plant--such as roots, stems and trunks, leaves, cones and flowers, and seeds and fruits--and how these manifest in distinct species, climates, and regions. The conclusion examines the ways humans rely on plant life and have harnessed their capacity for adaptation through selection and domestication. Abundantly illustrated with 400 color images documenting a wide range of examples, How Plants Work is a highly informative account about an integral part of our natural world. 400 color photos and meticulously drawn figures Scanning electron microscopy images offer close-up views of plant structures Diverse examples from around the world Plant morphology in an evolutionary context

Call Number: QK642 .H69 2018

Botany by James D. Mauseth

As new information is introduced and environmental changes occur, Plant Biology continues to develop and evolve as a science. Updated and revised to keep pace with these developments, the Fifth Edition of Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology provides a modern and comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of botany while retaining the important focus of natural selection, analysis of botanical phenomena, and diversity. Students are first introduced to topics that should be most familiar (plant structure), proceed to those less familiar (plant physiology and development), and conclude with topics that are likely least familiar to the introductory student (genetics, evolution, and ecology). Mauseth is sure to provide the latest material on molecular biology and plant biotechnology in an effort to keep pace with these advancing areas of study. All sections are written to be self-contained allowing for a flexible presentation of course material. Key Features: - Includes new content on molecular biology, plant biotechnology, and the most recent coverage of taxonomy and phylogeny of plants. - Now available with a new electronic laboratory manual. - Plants Do Things Differently boxes help students understand and compare plant biology with human biology. - End-of-chapter study guide includes nearly 50 or more questions in each chapter, urging students to test themselves on the most important points in the chapter. - Alternatives boxes encourage students to think expansively about alternative aspects of plant biology that are more advantageous in certain conditions.

Call Number: QK47 .M38 2014

ISBN: 1449665802

Plants by Timothy Walker

Plants form a fundamental element of the biosphere, and the evolution of plants has directly affected the evolution of animal life and the evolution of the Earth's climate. Plants have also become essential to humans not only in the form of cereal crops, fruit, and vegetables, but in theirmany other uses in wood and paper, and in providing medicines. Their aesthetic importance too in our parks and gardens as well as in wildflower meadows and great forests should not be underestimated.In this Very Short Introduction Timothy Walker, Director of the Botanical Gardens in Oxford, provides a concise account of the nature of plants, their variety, their evolution, and their importance and uses, stressing the need and efforts for their conservation for future generations.

Call Number: QK45.2 .W25 2012

An Introduction to Plant Structure and Development by Charles B. Beck

A plant anatomy textbook unlike any other on the market today. Carol A. Peterson described the first edition as 'the best book on the subject of plant anatomy since the texts of Esau'. Traditional plant anatomy texts include primarily descriptive aspects of structure, this book not only provides a comprehensive coverage of plant structure, but also introduces aspects of the mechanisms of development, especially the genetic and hormonal controls, and the roles of plasmodesmata and the cytoskeleton. The evolution of plant structure and the relationship between structure and function are also discussed throughout. Includes extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter. It provides students with an introduction to many of the exciting, contemporary areas at the forefront of research in the development of plant structure and prepares them for future roles in teaching and research in plant anatomy.

Call Number: QK641 .B38 2010

Botany Illustrated by Janice Glimn-Lacy; Peter B. Kaufman

Call Number: QK45.2 .G57 2006