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The second edition of this classic text provides a comprehensive introduction to plant anatomy incorporating basic knowledge with information and ideas about the development of plant structure and form. Unlike many other plant anatomy textbooks, the 18 chapters incorporate information from the latest research in cellular and molecular biology as related to plant development. Topics include the integrative significance of plasmodesmata and the concept of the symplast, the concept of multicellularity, the role of the cytoskeleton in development, signal transduction, and the genetic control of development. Brief sections on evolution and function are also included.
The book has been designed for undergraduate and graduate students with a basic knowledge of plant science. It is richly illustrated with numerous line drawings and photographs, closely integrated with the text, to aid students' understanding. In addition there is a comprehensive glossary and extensive bibliographies for further reading.
1. Problems of adaptation to a terrestrial environment
2. An overview of plant structure and development
3. The protoplast of the eukaryotic cell
4. Structure and development of the cell wall
5. Meristems of the shoot and their roles in plant structure and development
6. Morphology and development of the primary vascular system of the stem
7. Sympodial systems and patterns of nodal anatomy
8. The epidermis
9. The origin of secondary tissue systems and the effect of their formation on the primary body of seed plants
10. The vascular cambium: structure and function
11. Secondary xylem
12. The phloem
13. Periderm, rhytidome, and the nature of bark
14. Unusual features of structure and development in stems and roots
15. Secretion in plants
16. The root
17. The leaf
18. Reproduction and the origin of the sporophyte
CHarles B. Beck is Professor Emeritus of Botany at the University of Michigan.
"The author is clearly an authority in the field of plant anatomy and provides a wealth of basic information on the subject. It is the best book on the subject of plant anatomy since the texts of Esau. [...] this book should be on the shelf of students and researchers interested in plant biology."
– Annals of Botany
