There is more to a seed than the plant it will someday become: seeds, seedheads, and pods have their own dazzling beauty that sometimes even surpasses that of flowers. Bitter melon seeds resemble a handful of rubies. And butterfly vine seeds look exactly like those delicate insects captured in mid-flight.
Seeds also come with fascinating stories. Lotus seeds sent into orbit by Chinese scientists came back to earth mysteriously altered. And fava beans have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality: they can cause the debilitating condition known as favism, but they combat malaria.
In these stunning pages you'll gain an understanding of how seeds are formed and dispersed, why they look the way they do, and how they fit into the environment. Seeing Seeds will take you to strange and wonderful places. When you return, it's safe to say that you'll never look at a seed the same way again.
Robert Llewellyn has been photographing trees and landscapes for more than forty years. His photographs have been featured in major art exhibits, and more than thirty books featuring his photography are in print. His book Washington, The Capital was an official diplomatic gift of the White House and State Department.
Teri Dunn Chace is a writer and editor with more than 30 titles in publication, including Seeing Trees, How to Eradicate Invasive Plants, and The Anxious Gardener's Book of Answers. She's also written and edited extensively for Horticulture, North American Gardener, Backyard Living, and Birds & Blooms.
"Llewellyn's images reflect a depth of detail that until now, only the best botanical illustrators could approach."
– Washington Post
"Magical encapsulations of the future, seeds also are tiny worlds of their own. The new book, Seeing Seeds, explores them in near microscopic detail."
– Sunset