Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 240 pages
- Published by: Timber Press, Incorporated
- Edition: 2nd Edition December 1, 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0881926558
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0881926552
-
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
Product Description
A bestseller since its debut in 1990, this indispensable and handy reference has now been expanded and updated to include an appendix on plant taxonomy and a comprehensive index. Two dozen new photographs and illustrations make this new edition even richer with information. Its convenient paperback format makes it easy to carry and access, whether you are in or out of the garden. An essential overview of the science behind plants for beginning and advanced gardeners alike.
Book Description
A bestseller since its debut in 1990, this indispensable and handy reference has now been expanded and updated to include an appendix on plant taxonomy and a comprehensive index. Two dozen new photographs and illustrations make this new edition even richer with information. Its convenient paperback format makes it easy to carry and access, whether you are in or out of the garden. An essential overview of the science behind plants for beginning and advanced gardeners alike.
Reader ReviewsNot just for gardeners, this gentle and high level introduction to a scientific understanding of plant life will be of interest to anyone who wants to know the basics of plant development, ecology, and reproduction. Emphasizing breadth rather than depth, the book provides basic information organized under the broad headings of: Growth, Organization, Adaptation, Functions, and Reproduction. This is a book about the science of botany. It's not a field guide to help you identify plants. It contains no advice on how to plant tulips or where to site begonias. It has nothing about gardening tools or potting soil or which brand of plant nutrients to buy. It is for gardeners only in the sense that people who keep gardens and love plants and flowers will learn something about the basic physiology and function of their plants - kinds of things they won't always get from gardening books and magazines. The book imparts information about "what" is going on in the plants, rather than "how" to plant and tend them. Capon keeps it simple and straightforward. Cell biology, for example, is treated in only about seven pages, including illustrations. But the casual reader will get enough to at least understand that cellular functions are the basis of life and are worth exploring if one is interested in knowing more about how the basic processes work. Other topics are treated similarly. There's enough science to give you a taste of what's really going on, but you'll have to read elsewhere if you want a thorough understanding. If you need a serious botany textbook, this isn't it. But if you want to survey the subject, it's an excellent start. The black and white drawings and color photos are first rate. An appendix on naming gives some basic concepts of taxonomy. An excellent glossary and a thorough index make it easy to check the meaning of a term that you know the author introduced before but you can't remember where and don't remember what it means. As a novice in the subject, I learned quite a bit from this book.
Search for books at
