Plant Life A Brief History

281 Pages·2015·13.78 MB·English

by  Frederick B. Essig

Plant Life

Plant Life
A Brief History
FREDERICK B. ESSIG
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Essig, Frederick B.
A brief history of plant life / Frederick B. Essig.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–936264–6
1. Plants—Evolution. I. Title.
QK980.E85 2015
581.3′8—dc23
2014028846
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
his book is dedicated to those who have encouraged, guided, and supported my
botanical journey: my father, who planted ruit trees and took me backpacking in the
mountains; my mother, who let me out of her sight for a month to backpack around
Hawaii ater high school; my grandmother, who supplied me with books about
plants and introduced me to the wild places of Cape Cod; my high school teacher,
Bert Hunt, who showed me wild places rom the Grand Canyon to the northwestern
Cascades; my children, for tolerating requent wildlower stops on family vacations;
and last but not least my wife, Yau-Ping, who tolerated my many absences rom
home to botanize around the world and who provided encouragement and
support throughout this project.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Artwork Sources xi
Introduction xiii
1. he Origin of Photosynthesis 1
2. Eukaryotic Plant Life 17
3. Plants Invade the Land 47
4. Vascular Plants and the Rise of Trees 73
5. Seeds and the Gymnosperms 95
6. Darwin’s Abominable Mystery 117
7. Adaptations for Pollination and Seed Dispersal 137
8. he Dicotyledonous Grade 167
9. he Monocots 199
Epilogue 231
Notes 235
Glossary 237
Bibliography 249
Index 255

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank all of those who read and commented on portions of the
manuscript during its development: Gordon Fox, K. T. Scot, Rebecca Pinkerton,
Monica Metz-Wiseman, and Genevieve Essig. Special thanks go to Merilyn
Burke and Andrew Smith for invaluable help in deciphering copyright law and
tracking down copyright owners. I thank also the families of William H. Brown
and Gilbert M. Smith, particularly Dr. Jennifer Brown and Mrs. Susan Pellet
Minamyer, for granting liberal use of drawings from the classic botanical text-
books of these authors, and all the others who granted permission to use illustra-
tions from their own or family member’s botanical works.
ix