Botany for Gardeners: An Introduction and Guide - Hardcover

Capon, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0881921637 ISBN 13: 9780881921632

Publisher: Timber Pr, 1990

Synopsis

"The language is straightforward, the concepts well presented, and the information proffered in terms that will make sense to hands-on gardeners." ---Horticulture

What happens inside a seed after it is planted? How do plants reproduce and grow? What roles do minerals, air, and light play in the life of a plant? Still the most complete, compact, accessible introduction to the world of botany, this third edition includes dazzling electron microscope photos and even more amazing facts about plants. From plant anatomy to basic genetics, this marvelous book explains the science of plants in plain language anyone can understand.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Capon, a professor of botany, is a specialist in plant physiology. He also wrote Plant Survival, Adapting to a Hostile World.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

For their assistance in plant reproduction, pollinating animals are rewarded with food--nutriments upon which the flower visitors become dependent. Thereby, one of Nature's most fascinating partnerships is established. Some of the pollen may be eaten by insects such as beetles, or carried by honey bees to the hives to feed their young. But more significant, special glands ( nectaries) at the base of the petals, pistil, and stamens exude droplets of a nutritious liquid, called nectar. It is during the pollinators' attempts to reach the nectaries that they inadvertently pick up and transfer pollen. After an insect has settled on a landing platform formed by the lower petals of the flowers of many species, little is left to chance in aiding the pollinator to find its tasty reward and transfer pollen. The petal's color patterns, called nectar guides, are virtual road maps directing visiting insects to the sweet food, past waiting stamens and pistils. Converging stripes of contrasting colors, rows of dots, a brilliant circle of color at the flower's center, or star-like patterns provide visual clues that the insects instinctively follow. Some lower pigments reflect the sun's ultraviolet light---wavelengths visible to many insects, but not to the human eye. When nectar guides are painted with such pigments, the flower's pollinators are dazzled by marvelous, iridescent patterns to which we are not privileged.

Edition details

• Publisher: Timber Pr
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0881921637
• ISBN 13: 9780881921632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 220