What first led you to become interested in the study of plant science?

At school and, later, as an undergraduate student, I encountered mentors who encouraged an interest in, at first, natural history, then, general plant biology, and, finally, the more specialized field of plant physiology and biochemistry. This interest continued to grow during my years as a graduate student, becoming, in time, an academic career in plant biology.

Plants demonstrate considerable variety of form and colour, and thrive in all corners of the globe – is there a realm of plant science that particularly interests you?

My own fascination is with how plants work at the most fundamental level. In my research career, I focused on plant metabolism using such tools as biochemical mutants and molecular biological techniques to investigate how plants manufacture the molecules they require for their everyday needs, such as those involved in DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, vitamin production – including folic acid – and some of those used by plants to defend themselves against attack by fungal diseases.

Reaching for the Sun is accessible to the non-specialist as well as the student – what was your aim for the book? What can a potential reader expect?

My aim in writing the first edition was to provide knowledge of how plants work to the informed layperson who has some background knowledge of plant biology. The green organisms are the bedrock of the biosphere in that they are the primary producers of the foods nearly all other living things must have. Their ability to capture energy from the sun and use it to form complex organic molecules from simple inorganic compounds like carbon dioxide and water is a miracle of nature. Yet there are many books with a focus on the wonders of animals and animal life but not nearly as many on plants and their lifestyles; I decided I could help to rectify this imbalance.

The seventeen chapters in the first edition covered many aspects of the inner workings of plants. I approached the subject from an historical point of view thinking that showing how our knowledge of how plants work had evolved over time would carry the less well informed reader towards increasing understanding of these unique and critically important organisms.

Parts 1-4 in the second edition cover the same major topics as the first but also includes new information consistent with recent advances in knowledge. To make this edition accessible, still, to the non-specialist, some more advanced information is kept separate in Boxes. If non-specialists wish to skip this source of information, they can do so without losing the thread of discussion in the main text. More knowledgeable students can use the Boxes as a source of additional information.

Part 5 deals with the great global geological and biogeological cycles of five of the most important elements needed by plants: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. The first chapter in this section charts how these natural cycles operated in the four and a half billion years or so of the Earth’s existence before humans began having a significant global impact. The second chapter highlights some of the effects human activities are having on these cycles and, then, on plants, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution about 300 years ago.

How are the plant sciences set to deal with the consequences of such environmental changes?

Advances made in recent years in plant biology are huge and at all levels of plant life from the ecological to the molecular. At the level I am particularly interested in, unprecedented advances in knowledge are occurring at breathtaking speed.  Our understanding of how plants work at the most basic physiological and biochemical levels improves and expands daily, it seems.

I added Part 5 to the book because of my belief that students entering the plant sciences today need to understand how their planet has evolved during its eons of existence, how the activities of a rapidly growing human population are accelerating the pace of this evolution, especially its great elemental cycles, and what effects these imposed changes are having on plants at the most fundamental level. Any plant biology student in the 21^st century needs to develop an understanding of and sensitivity to the impact of human activities on plants at all levels, including the physiological and biochemical. My aim was to provide a few clear examples of how human impacts on our land, water, and atmospheric resources are affecting how plants work. After all, the changes seen at the ecological level are often a reflection of the impact human-forced changes to the environment are having on the everyday activities going on in the cells of the plant.

John King is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan

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Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Lives of Conifers: A Comparative Account of the Coniferous Trees

by Graham R. Powell

What?

A detailed account of the life cycle of conifers, and an analysis of their ecological and environmental importance.

Why?

This is a comprehensive reference work, by an expert in tree growth and morphology. The author has published over 40 refereed papers and more than 20 technical reports and handbooks during his 34-year career in the faculty of forestry and environmental management.

As well as being authoritative on the growth of conifers, this volume introduces the reader to environmental considerations and the reliance of humankind on the conifers.

Lives of Conifers is extensively illustrated throughout (see images below), with detailed comparative sequences of morphological portraiture, stylish diagrammatic representations of anatomical features and many informative charts and figures. The chapters follow the stages of the life-cycle and there is an extensive glossary.

Who?

Graham R. Powell is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick, Canada

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Trees of Panama and Costa Rica

“This is an impressive tour-de-force of tropical plant identification. The lively writing is accessible to nonspecialists, while the broad taxonomic coverage and authoritative species descriptions make this guide useful to professional botanists.” – Brad Boyle, University of Arizona

1. The only tree guide to cover Panama and Costa Rica together
2. Covers almost 500 species
3. Contains 438 high-resolution photographs
4. Includes 480 colour distribution maps
5. There are concise and jargon-free descriptions of key characteristics for every species

Richard Condit is a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Rolando Pérez is chief botanist and Nefertaris Daguerre is a forest specialist with the Center for Tropical Forest science at the STRI.

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This very generously illustrated two-volume set is the product of eight years of intensive travel and research on the part of the author, naturalist Stewart McPherson. It’s packed full of detail about the natural history and ecology of these fascinating plants – the 1441 pages include 799 colour photographs! Horticulturalists and botanists are presented with unparalleled information about all the carnivorous plant genera, including four species of Nepenthes described here for the first time.

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“Reed occurs in all five continents. It is concentrated in Europe, Asia and Africa, but is most variable and abundant in eastern Europe and into Asia (much in China), in temperate climes. Here it is the commonest wetland dominant, the commonest (non-bog) peat former, and the commonest sparse species in other wetland types. Reed peat is of course a fen peat, formed under water from old plant peats. Reed beds, before much human impact, often lived for several thousand years, colonising flooded areas and building up peat until dry land vegetation could invade or land or sea level changed to increase surface water again. The plants have large rhizome systems growing at the front and dying at the back. It is thought, but without evidence, that the same plants live throughout the life of a stable bed (one that is not subject to constant disturbance and disruption).

“Before main drainage, the next most important habitat (still seen, though sparsely) is in bands along lowland streams, outside a fringing band of trees or bushes. Small dominant stands occur in other wet places, and sparse reeds are in most fens, rich and poor, in estuaries and beside some rivers.

“Reed is extraordinarily sensitive to most environmental impacts, natural and human. These variations make reed a fascinating study in plant behaviour.

“There has been a deplorable decline and loss of river plants which is quite possibly worst in Britain, among the larger countries. This has occurred over the past 30 years or so, although some decline was recorded from the 1930s through to 1980 (principally in fine-leaved Potamogetons). Among small countries, Malta seems to be approaching total loss in a few decades time, there having been a good and common aquatic flora in 1850. This loss, however, is primarily due to water loss from abstraction.”

The dedication in Dr. Haslam’s next book, “The Waving Plants of the River”, is to “the botanists of the future who dedicate their lives to reverse the present decline and devastation of river plants.”

A Book of Reed is available now from NHBS

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We are pleased to announce the recent arrival of the new two-volume set Pitcher Plants of the Old World – now in stock at NHBS.

The pitcher plants include the largest and most spectacular of all carnivorous plants. So-called because they produce highly specialised foliage that takes the form of hollow, water-filled "pitchers", these extraordinary plants lure and prey upon arthropods and other small animals. The pitcher plants of the Old World also trap the largest prey of all carnivorous plants, including on rare occasions, vertebrates as large as frogs, mice and even rats. This two-volume work examines both genera of Old World pitcher plants (Nepenthes and Cephalotus) and documents the ecology and natural diversity of every known species for the first time and in unparalleled detail.

View some of the hundreds of glorious photographs in Volume 1 and Volume 2

Stewart McPherson, the author of Pitcher Plants of the Old World and the best-selling Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands, took time out from his international adventures to answer a few questions for NHBS. Learn more about Stewart’s experiences in the field!

Read the full interview with the author, Stewart McPherson

Browse Pitcher Plants of the Old World, Volume One
Browse Pitcher Plants of the Old World, Volume Two

Check out the author’s other book, Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands – a NHBS bestseller!

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Stewart McPherson, the author of the new two-volume set Pitcher Plants of the Old World and the best-selling Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands, took time out from his international adventures to answer a few questions for NHBS. We hope you enjoy reading more about Stewart’s experiences in the field!

What awakened your passion for pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants?
While at university, I took part in several rainforest conservation programmes in countries across Central America and Southeast Asia. One of these projects involved an eight week stay in the Maliau Basin in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and this experience gave me the opportunity to observe Nepenthes in the wild for the first time. To my amazement, in the very first pitcher of a N. hirsuta plant which I examined, I found the body of a dead mouse, and from this experience, my fascination with carnivorous plants was fixed.

What variations exist between pitcher plants in the Old World and the New World?
In the Old World there are two genera (families) of Pitcher Plants – Nepenthes and Cephalotus. Nepenthes occur across tropical areas of the western hemisphere, mainly in Southeast Asia, and consists of 120 species, including the largest of all carnivorous plant species which produce giant “pitcher” traps larger than 3 litres in volume that occasionally trap prey as big as rats. Each species of Nepenthes differs in the shape, size and colouration of its pitchers – often these traps are bizarre and extremely beautiful. Cephalotus, on the other hand, grows only in S. E. Australia and produces small, purple pitchers the size of a thimble which are specialised towards the trapping of small prey, namely ants. 

There are five genera of pitcher plants in the New World (Americas). These include the Sarracenia of North America – which mainly produce striking, tall, but narrow, trumpet shaped pitchers that grow in marshy grasslands. Also in North America, there grows Darlingtonia – the cobra lily – which produces bizarre, cobra-shaped traps. Both the Sarracenia and Darlingtonia grow in temperate areas, so experience cold conditions (often frost and snow) in winter. So these plants can often be cultivated outdoors in England. In addition to these, there are three pitcher plant groups from the tropical Americas – the ancient Heliamphora which produce stout, cup shaped traps, and grow atop of the tepuis – ancient “lost-world” plateaus scattered across southern Venezuela, as well as representatives from two groups of tank bromeliads (Brocchinia and Catopsis).

All seven genera of pitcher plants are extraordinary – each with remarkable adaptations to kill insects and other small animals. They are also often very beautiful and colourful, and all seven groups are grown by increasing numbers of horticulturists around the world.

What has been your greatest discovery?
While undertaking research for Pitcher Plants of the Old World, I climbed a remote and little explored peak in Central Palawan, in the Philippines. After a difficult climb, on the top of this mountain, two friends and I discovered a spectacular, giant, new species of pitcher plant. It is one of the largest of all known pitcher plant species, producing traps over 30 cm long, and beautifully coloured with green, yellow, red and purple. I had been lucky to find several other new species on different mountains previously – but this was the most interesting by far, because it is so massive, colourful and beautiful. We decided to name this new plant after Sir David Attenborough – and so it is now formally been described Nepenthes attenboroughii. Both a description of this new plant, and an account of how it was discovered, are presented in Pitcher Plants of the Old World, Volume Two.

Tell us about some of the challenges that you’ve experienced in the field.
I prepared Pitcher Plants of the Old World in response to the lack of available information on dozens of species of Nepenthes. Since many species of Nepenthes are not in cultivation, and also because there is often confusion concerning those that are, I resolved to study and photograph each species of Nepenthes and Cephalotus in the wild, in order to document each adequately. After graduating from university in 2006 at the age of 23, I began three years of intense research focusing on Nepenthes and Cephalotus, and spent a cumulative total of eighteen months in the field. Over the last three years, I climbed over one hundred mountains across Southeast Asia in search of species of Nepenthes. Many of these journeys were relatively simple, lasting just a few days or less. Others required more extensive effort, and in a few cases, I spent more than one week to find a single Nepenthes taxon.

This endeavour has been a journey in every sense of the word. It has taken me to Nepenthes habitats in mine fields, various rebel and guerilla conflict zones, through prison grounds guided by murderers, to the slopes of active, smoldering volcanoes. I travelled through intense storms, floods, and repeatedly to the habitat of wild tigers, elephants and always the ubiquitous leeches of the forests of Southeast Asia. Several times I had to resort to drastic measures, for example when running short on food, I was forced to eat wild frogs in Kalimantan and fruit bats in Sulawesi. Often the journey has been physically difficult, and a few times I had to accept failure and return disheartened from difficult efforts to climb mountains that could not be summited. Equally on a few occasions, after spending days climbing peaks, sometimes no pitcher plants were to be found. The great botanist Carolus Linnaeus named Nepenthes after a spirit that banishes all ills and grief, and as he prophetically suggested 250 years ago, after every success in finding remarkable Nepenthes species, all thoughts of past difficulties and hardships are replaced with amazement and wonder, and so it has been for me. This search has given me a wealth of memories from the most beautiful corners of the world which I will always treasure. From countless beautiful rainforest scenes, to the summits of many misty, tropical mountains, and even to the cliffs of remote coral islands. I had the privilege of venturing to some of the enduringly least explored corners of Southeast Asia, through traditional villages to remote mountain peaks to encounter four new species of Nepenthes. However, all journeys inevitably end, and this one is now complete shortly before my 26th birthday. Undertaking this work has been both the most difficult, but equally the most enjoyable experience of my life, and I sincerely hope that you might you enjoy the result.

What are the most pressing conservation concerns affecting pitcher plants in the wild?
Several species of Nepenthes are either on the verge of extinction in the wild, and one may already have been completely wiped out. Because dozens of species of Nepenthes pitcher plants occur only on one mountain and no where else in the world, and since in a few cases, the total wild population may be just a few hundred plants, they are at serious risk of being poached, overcollected or having their habitat destroyed. This risk is made even greater because of the value of these plants – horticultural interest is such that even seedlings of the most rare and sought after species are often worth hundreds of pounds, dollars or euros.

In general, poaching represents the biggest threat overall to most pitcher plant species, but habitat loss, mining, forest fires and a plethora of other factors are also real risks to these incredible plants. Realistically, it is highly likely that several species may become extinct over the next few years in the wild. Which is why it is important for horticulturists, botanic gardens and conservation organisations to work together and maintain collections of different strains of the rarest species to prevent complete loss. Perhaps one day, the rarest species may be reintroduced back into the world – and for this hope – the horticulture represents the only means of survival for several species for the time being. Documenting both the status of the various pitcher plant species, and the various threats and practical means of conservation are fundamental elements in the books that I have written.

Is there an increasing interest in pitcher plants outside of academia?
Definitely. There are dozens of specialist societies, horticultural nurseries, online forums and thousands of websites – not just in Europe and north America, but increasingly across Asia and Australia. More and more horticulturists are becoming fascinated by these alluring, bizarre, but beautiful plants of prey.

What would you recommend to people interested in seeing pitcher plants in their natural habitat?
The most spectacular and fun place to see pitcher plants in the wild is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo. This mountain is great to climb. It is located in the Kinabalu National Park – which is incredibly organised and a model for sustainable management of wilderness areas. Tours are easy to book (but often sell out during busy seasons). The climb takes just one day each way, and you reach the top of the highest peak in Southeast Asia. On the way, you see several spectacular species of pitcher plants. But – a little known secret – is that when you descend – ask your guide (before you start your climb) to go down via the Mesilau centre. This is a beautiful resort – but right by the resort, there is a short trail which all the guides know. It is called the nepenthes rajah trail, and along this short walk, you see the largest of all pitcher plant species – N. rajah – which produces pitchers that trap prey as large as rats! It is incredibly easy to see (just a 10 minute walk from the resort) and breathtakingly beautiful. The plants are strictly protected and well managed, and the revenue from your visit helps maintain the area.

Tell us about your best-selling book, Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands. What drew you to publish a book about this subject? What are the logistics involved in visiting such an isolated place?  
The book is about the tepuis – the immense, sandstone plateaus of Southern Venezuela and borderlands of northern Brazil and western Guyana. These mountains are simply the most extraordinary and breathtaking places on the planet – each is encircled by towering sandstone cliffs up to 1,000 meters tall. The summits of each of these so called “lost worlds” has remained variably isolated for millions of years – and today they are home to many ancient plants and animals that occur no where else in South America. Indeed, some of the animals on top of these great plateaus are most similar to extinct fossils. The story of how these tablelands were discovered and explored inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s adventure classic “The Lost World”.

I had always been interested in these mysterious mountains because they are the home of the Heliamphora pitcher plants (see above) which I had grown since a child. I was actually undertaking a conservation project whilst in Belize, and after five months working in the jungle and teaching in a remote village, I returned back to a seaside village for a break, and after diving one day, found a copy of a May 1989 National Geographic magazine including an absolutely spectacular article on these mountains. At the time, there were no detailed books about these mountains, how they had formed, how they were discovered, or the weird wildlife of their summits. So at that moment, I decided to write a book on the subject.

Visiting the tepuis is not easy. Most can be accessed only by helicopter. Only four tepuis can be climbed – only one of which – Mount Roraima – is regularily visited. Mount Roraima is a tourist attraction and many people climb up it each year. I had to visit 20 or so of these tepuis to undertake the research I needed to finish my book, which took 6 months of traveling. These mountains take my breath away – they are still (in my opinion) the most incredible and spectacular places on earth.

Of the many places you’ve visited in your travels, which ones stand out in your mind? Why?
Aside from the tepuis – I think the Philippines. I spent 14 weeks researching the pitcher plants of this beautiful country. The people are the friendliest, kindest and in many ways the most innocent and warm I have met. The landscape is extraordinarily varied and beautiful, as is the wildlife. However this is a country with a turbulent past that has seen more than its fair share of troubles. Partly due to this history and political instability, the wildlife – especially the plant life – remains little documented. The pitcher plants of the Philippines have hardly been studied. My friend and I found several new species there, as well as spotting one species of pitcher plant that had not been seen for more than a hundred years. Without a doubt, there are more new species of pitcher plants (and of course other plants and animals) awaiting discovery in the Philippines. The Philippines is also one of the most interesting places I have ever been to; from chickens and goats on buses, to local “delicacies” such as unhatched eggs, to jeepneys – perhaps the strangest type of vehicle ever built – you really can’t guess what each day will hold.

Browse the two-volume set Pitcher Plants of the Old World

Browse the best-selling Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands

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The first systematic account of the natural and semi-natural plant communities of the British Islands was first published in 1911 under the title Types of British Vegetation. That book, for which the present author was largely responsible, gave an important new direction to field work; and since its initial publication the subject has grown so extensive that this much larger book became needed.

The British Islands and Their Vegetation, first published in 1939, gives a comprehensive account of the vegetation of the country, with an ample physical and historical and a full complement of maps, charts, diagrams and photographs. The book is written so as to be intelligible to everyone who is seriously interested in the subject and students of cognate branches of natural history as well as by plant ecologists.
Order your copy today

Other recent botany arrivals include New Trees, Palms of Southern Asia and Cotoneasters.

Browse more new Botany Titles

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Some great new lichen and bryophyte titles are now on the shelves at NHBS, including the greatly expanded and revised new edition of The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland – the key reference for the identification of lichens in the British Isles.

The first edition of The Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland was an outstanding achievement for British Lichenology – a pioneering work and the first of its type in Europe. This much enlarged revision reflects the considerable accumulation of new information that has occurred since the publication of the first edition and is symptomatic of the enormous advances in lichen taxonomy over the last two decades.

This book is undoubtedly the standard work for the identification of lichens in Great Britain and Ireland and will be indispensable to all serious students of British, Irish and overseas lichenology and other biologists working in related fields of ecology, pollution, chemical and environmental studies.

Order your copy of The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland today!

Other new lichens and bryophytes titles include Introduction to Bryophytes and Bryophyte Biology.

Browse other recent Lichens & Bryophytes titles

Browse Plants & Botany

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The Vegetative Key to the British Flora has just been published. John Poland and Eric Clement’s novel key allows easy identification of over 3,000 native and alien plants without flowers or fruit, with nothing more than a hand lens.

Collins Flower Guide will be in stock in just a few days – it’s the most complete guide to all flowering plants in Northern Europe yet produced. There’s also a new edition of Orchids of Britain and Ireland – available now.

Browse all Botany Books and Field Ecology Equipment. Don’t miss the latest Special Offers at NHBS

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