Presents an overview of plant reproduction at research and professional level, from the induction of flowering to the setting of seeds. Authors address all the major contemporary issues in plant reproduction and chapters are grouped into four sections along a chronological theme - physiological and molecular control of the floral transition, floral organ development, pollination, embryogenesis and senescence.
The control of flowering: do genetical and physiological approaches converge?; The genetic control of flowering time; The genetic and molecular control of ovule development; The developmental biology of pollen; Plant embryogenesis - the cellular design of a plant; Endosperm development; The central role of the ovule in apomixis and parthenocarpy; Self-incompatibility in flowering plants: the ribonuclease-based systems; Pollination signals and flower senescence; References; Index.