Botany for Gardeners

by Capon, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780881926552
• ISBN10: 0881926558
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-20
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co

Summary

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 photos 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.

Author Biography

Brian Capon was for thirty years professor of botany at California State University, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction	9	(4)
PART I. GROWTH	13	(40)
Cells and Seeds: Basics and Beginnings
Cells	16	(2)
Cell Walls	18	(2)
Wall Structure and Cell Growth	20	(2)
Growth Processes	22	(1)
Meristems	22	(2)
Seed Coats	24	(1)
Food-Storage Structures and the Embryo	25	(4)
Seed Germination	29	(2)
Other Germination Requirements	31	(3)
Roots and Shoots: How Plants Mature
Root Systems	34	(2)
Root Growth	36	(1)
Root Hairs and Branches	37	(1)
Primary Growth in Stems	38	(6)
Development of a Woody Twig	44	(1)
Features of a Woody Twig	45	(2)
Leaves	47	(6)
PART II. ORGANIZATION	53	(30)
Inside Stems
Herbaceous Stems	56	(3)
Stem Thickening	59	(5)
Other Features of Wood	64	(3)
Monocot Stems	67	(4)
Inside Roots and Leaves
A Root's Primary Tissues	71	(2)
Secondary Growth in Roots	73	(1)
Cellular Organization in Leaves	74	(5)
Plant Cell Types	79	(4)
PART III. ADAPTATION	83	(48)
Adaptations for Protection
The Garden Habitat	87	(1)
Environmental Modification	88	(3)
Limiting Factors	91	(1)
Protection in Extreme Environments	92	(4)
Protection against Animals	96	(3)
Protection by Camouflage	99	(1)
Protection by Ants	100	(1)
Wound Healing	101	(2)
Chemical Protection	103	(3)
Mode of Operation of Chemical Protectants	106	(2)
Other Methods of Defense	108	(1)
Adaptations to Fulfill Basic Needs
Competition between Plants	109	(1)
Reaching toward the Sun	110	(1)
Spreading Stems	111	(2)
Climbing Structures	113	(2)
Lianas and Epiphytes	115	(1)
Supportive Roots	115	(2)
Special Methods of Water Uptake	117	(1)
Adaptations for Water Storage	118	(2)
Underground Food- and Water-Storage Organs	120	(4)
Saprophytes and Parasites	124	(2)
Mycorrhizae and Root Nodules	126	(2)
Insectivorous Plants	128	(3)
PART IV. FUNCTIONS	131	(44)
Control of Growth and Development
Growth Responses to Light	134	(3)
Responses to Gravity and Touch	137	(3)
Other Growth Movements in Plants	140	(1)
Hormones and the Aging Process	141	(2)
Control of Branching and Adventitious Root Formation	143	(1)
Other Hormone Effects: Synthetic Growth Regulators	144	(1)
Environmental Control: Temperature	145	(2)
Vernalization	147	(1)
Environmental Control: Photoperiod	148	(4)
The Uptake and Use of Water, Minerals, and Light
Osmosis: The Cell's Water Pump	152	(3)
Development of Root Pressure	155	(1)
Transpirational Pull	156	(2)
Cold Hardening	158	(1)
Mineral Nutrient Needs	158	(5)
Soils	163	(2)
The Photosynthetic Apparatus	165	(3)
Light Transformed into the Energy in Food	168	(1)
The Photosynthetic Process	169	(3)
Gas Exchange with the Atmosphere	172	(3)
PART V. REPRODUCTION	175	(44)
From Flowers to Fruits
Flower Parts and Their Functions	178	(4)
Pollination by Animals	182	(1)
Road Maps and Rewards	183	(3)
Inflorescences	186	(3)
Pollination by Wind and Water	189	(2)
Pollination Alternatives	191	(2)
The Reproductive Process	193	(2)
Seedless Fruits and Unusual Embryos	195	(1)
Fruit Types	195	(3)
Seed Dispersal	198	(2)
The Cost of Reproduction	200	(1)
Strategies of Inheritance
Genetics: The Science of Heredity	201	(1)
Mitosis and Meiosis	202	(1)
The Life Cycle of a Moss	203	(2)
The Life Cycle of a Fern	205	(2)
The Two Generations of Flowering Plants	207	(2)
Chromosome Segregation during Meiosis	209	(1)
Gene Segregation during Meiosis	210	(3)
Consequences of Imperfection	213	(1)
The Origins of Polyploidy	214	(3)
Custom-made Plants of the Future	217	(2)
Epilogue	219	(1)
Appendix: Plant Names	220	(4)
Glossary	224	(10)
Index	234

Excerpts

The progress of a plant's growth is a summation of its responses to separate, but interacting components of the environment in which it is living. The plant may be favored with adequate water and optimum temperatures but be limited in its ability to photosynthesize by inadequate illumination, perhaps because of shading from taller plants or buildings. Another plant may receive full sunlight, plentiful irrigation, and sufficient fertilizer, but still not express its growth potential because prevailing temperatures are too high or too low. Even if climatic and soil conditions are ideal, stunting may occur because pathogenic fungi or predatory insects have invaded the plant. Microorganisms and animals are, indeed, environmental factors to be reckoned with. Other life forms, being ordained components of habitats occupied by plants, exercise both beneficial and harmful effects, as do temperature, rainfall, and sunlight. It becomes obvious that, of a host of interacting environmental factors, only one need challenge a plant's tolerances in order to limit its growth. The greater the number of unfavorable conditions acting in concert, the more profound the effect. That is why, in nature, where so many variables are at work, plants rarely reach their full potential. Happily, in a garden, one has the opportunity to improve on a few factors limiting plant development and, consequently, to cultivate larger, healthier specimens than usually exist in the wild. Plants generally die when too many limiting factors overwhelm their physiological capabilities for survival. Or, they may simply succumb to oldage processes, principally to a genetically programmed deterioration of cells and tissues, called senescence (Latin for "to grow old"). Once this process has been initiated, even the best care cannot save a plant. In annual species, senescence takes place within one year of growth; in biennials, in the second year. In perennial species, senescence of a localized nature occurs in older organs before they die and are discarded; it takes many years before the process finally consumes the entire organism. When a plant becomes dormant, it prepares for the approach of seasons when combined adverse environmental conditions are bound to limit growth or threaten death. Entry into dormancy entails a reduction of physiological activities to the minimum level needed for survival. At that time the plant may also discard vulnerable parts, such as leaves prone to damage from frost or the effects of drought. Thus, dormant biennial or perennial temperate-zone species are well prepared to face winter's low temperatures, strong winds, cloudy days, and snow cover. Some desert perennials undergo the same dormancy processes to withstand the long, hot, dry months of summer. Typically, a dormant plant has well-protected meristems - the sites of renewed growth when environmental conditions improve. Vascular and cork cambia are surrounded by cork tissue, which is not only a superior insulator but, because its cells are impregnated with suberin, also prevents evaporative water loss. Apical meristems, at stem tips and in axillary buds, are encased in layers of bud scales. These are modified leaves, adapted to withstand prolonged periods of cold or dehydration. Although annual plants die before the arrival of seasonal temperature extremes or drought, their species survive the worst climatic conditions in the form of dormant seeds, the hardiest structures of higher plants. Among lower plants such as mosses, spores are the units of survival. This type of adaptation is called an avoidance strategy, entailing the passage of a small portion of a plant into the dormant state. The complete organism is genetically programmed to exist only during the most favorable period of the year. The most taxing problem arising from an avoidance strategy is the accomplishment of both vegetative growth and reproduction within the relatively short life span of an annual plant