Green Plants

By Peter R. Bell and Alan R. Hemsley

Book Overview

The central theme of Green Plants, first published in 2000, is the astonishing diversity of forms found in the plant kingdom, from the simplicity of prokaryotic algae to the myriad complexities of flowering plants. The book is arranged according to generally accepted classification schemes, beginning with algae (prokaryotic and eukaryotic) and moving through mosses, liverworts, fern allies, ferns and gymnosperms to flowering plants. Copiously illustrated throughout, it provides a concise account of all algae and land plants, with information on topics from cellular structure to life cycles and reproduction. The authors maintain a refreshingly cautious approach in discussions of possible phylogenetic relationships and include newly emerging information on features of plants known only as fossils. This edition has been completely updated to reflect current views on the origin of the major groups of plants, providing a resource for students of botany, and for researchers needing a comprehensive reference to the plant kingdom.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521646731
• ISBN13: 9780521646734
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.4" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Great upper-level book, but not for an intro course

I was needing a book for an introductory botany course, covering plant evolution and structure. This book is too advanced for a course like that, but would be excellent for a 300 or 400 level course after students have the basics of evolution, taxonomy, and plant structures down. As a grad student, this is a text I'd love to have as a resource and will use as a reference text in my course...but it's too dry and the language is at too high a level for beginners. I am recommending this text to a professor of a botany class I was TA'ing for on Comparative Plant Anatomy, a 300 level course. So...if you want to be a botanist, grab it. If you want to teach plant anatomy and origins after an introductory botany course, this is perfect (best I've seen for the price, too!). If you want to teach an AP Botany course to high school students that only have a high-school biology background with no botany experience....not a good choice except as a strong reference. Book explains well, has excellent black-and-white diagrams, follows a thorough and logical pattern of evolution, but simply uses terminology too advanced for a lower-level course. They have trouble with the concepts of transcription and translation, much less page 103, "The passage of materials into the sporophyte is entirely through the apoplast since in all archeoniates the boundary between the two phases lacks plasmodesmata." Clear to me....but not to a beginner. I can't stress how good this book is for an advanced course or a serious botanist/taxonomist/plant geneticist/etc. GREAT upper-level/professional text!!!!!