Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology [Paperback]

Adrian D. Bell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0198542194 | ISBN-13: 978-0198542193

This profusely illustrated book provides comprehensive coverage of the immense variation in the external structure of flowering plants. It defines the innumerable details of growing and mature plants, describing their leaves, flowers, roots and seeds in a manner that will enable professionals and amateurs alike to identify many difficult features. The book also explains much of the terminology that is used in advanced botanical texts and reference books, but rarely explained for novices. The unique and extensive collection of color photographs and stunning original line drawings add to the fascination of this useful work. By focusing on morphological features, which are often passed over in anatomically-oriented texts, this volume will be a valuable resource for all students and professionals in botany, horticulture, and forestry, as well as anyone interested in the amazing variety of plant forms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book makes this complex subject accessible and manageable. ... Functions as an illustrated dictionary, a basic course in plant morphology, and an intriguing and enlightening book into which to dip. -- J. Hale Hobby Greenhouse 20090101 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description

The ideal reference for students of botany and horticulture, gardeners, and naturalists.

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. The second part focuses on how plants grow: bud development, the growth of reproductive organs, leaf arrangement, branching patterns, and the accumulation and loss of structures. 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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198542194
• ISBN-13: 978-0198542193
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,271,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best botanical books., September 22, 2008

By 

Acalyphoid (Miami) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology (Hardcover)

Plant Form has been out of print for a long time, so I was excited to see it released as a new edition (2008). I have been wanting to get a copy of this book for a while, and was thoroughly impressed when I finally got my hands on the new edition.

Why have I been wanting to get a copy of this book for so long?

First; this book is unique in its approach describing flowering plant morphology (i.e., comparative anatomy) according to the "big picture." This book does not include the typical cellular structures and details typical of so many college textbooks on morphology. Instead, one is immersed in the vegetative characters one finds when actually walking up to a plant. This book focuses from the perspective of a hand lens all the way up to tree architecture. Plant Form is as required for to those interested in plant systematics as for those in plant ecology.

Second; the plants used for examples in this book are exceptional. This book is not a dry catergorization of plant parts; stems, leaves, ... No, this book includes examples of curiosities and odd-balls from all across the botanical world, which really serves to elucidate the subtleties of plant morphology. Many of these fascinating topics I have found only in specialized courses on tropical plant morphology, all of which lacked textbooks.

Third; Plant Form, while potentially useful for a specialized course in botany, is interesting to everyone. Literally, everyone. No formal or technical knowledge is necessary; no small feat as the science of botany is famous for its vast lexicon based on Latin and Greek. What really makes this book so interesting is its great drawings and photographs which immediately draws one into the diverse world of plants. Plant Form is one of the best coffee-table books around.

Case in point, it doesn't matter whether you are a professional botanist, amateur naturalist, avid gardener, or an artist who likes painting plants. You will love this book.
But if you are a professional or budding botanist, you need to get a copy.

As for problems with Plant Form, the only problem I have noticed is the omission of family names for the species mentioned in the text (family names are in the index). But this is really a trifling problem, barely worth mentioning. Great Book.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Illustrated compendium, May 4, 2000

By 

P. van Rijckevorsel (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology (Paperback)

"This book is intended [to provide an] attractive and workable compendium of flowering plant morphology ..." [quote from cover]. It certainly does this; in 341 pages richly illustrated with captivating color photographs and exquisite line drawings. An academic yet attractive overview of the immense variety of form that has evolved in Angiosperms.

First published in 1991, reprinted in 1993 (with corrections), reprinted 1998. This last edition, compared to the 1991 original, is printed on slightly yellower paper and is a little more 'black' in print, taking away something from the beauty of the photographs and the crispness of the printed text.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Names for Plant Parts, September 13, 2010

By 

Kiwi Cactophile "Trevor for ever" (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology (Hardcover)

A well produced, comprehensive book, thoroughly indexed, beautifully illustrated both by excellent coloured photos and perhaps even more valuably by superbly clear line drawings, throughout, and all at an amazing price for the value it contains. The aspiring expert will read this avidly from cover to cover in time and the amateur gardener will simply dip into it via the index for the explanation and meaning of specialised botanical terms. A book not to be missed and likely to sell out before the demand has been met. Postage for non-US recipients is a bit steep but the service is fast, careful and efficient. So full marks from us 'down under' in New Zealand. Thank you Amazon.com