"What good is a dead plant? A lot! Herbaria, a picture book for grades one through eight, explains why, leading readers on an accessible, engaging exploration of who loves dead plants--and why. In these pages, we learn about famous historical plant collectors and the paths they established investigating plants. Readers join today's field botanists as they go far and wide to discover new species, and we get to look in the herbarium at how specimens are mounted and organized for everyone to use and enjoy. The book as a whole helps kids to visualize themselves as botanists gathering, preserving, and unlocking the mysteries of plants. In addition to beautiful watercolor illustrations and photos, the book includes interactive features such as lift-a-flaps, overlays, and a foldout." --Publisher's description.
A treasury like no other Since the 1500s, scientists have documented the plants and fungi that grew around them, organizing the specimens into collections. Known as herbaria, these archives helped give rise to botany as its own scientific endeavor. Herbarium is a fascinating enquiry into this unique field of plant biology, exploring how herbaria emerged and have changed over time, who promoted and contributed to them, and why they remain such an important source of data for their new role: understanding how the world’s flora is changing. Barbara Thiers, director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, also explains how recent innovations that allow us to see things at both the molecular level and on a global scale can be applied to herbaria specimens, helping us address some of the most critical problems facing the world today. At its heart, Herbarium is a compelling reminder of one of humanity’s better impulses: to save things—not just for ourselves, but for generations to come.
Plant Systematics, Second Edition, provides the basis for teaching an introduction to the morphology, evolution, and classification of land plants.It presents a foundation of the approach, methods, research goals, evidence, and terminology of plant systematics, along with the most recent knowledge of evolutionary relationships of plants and practical information vital to the field. This updated edition has been expanded to include 15 fern families, 9 gymnosperm families, and increased angiosperm family treatments from 100 to 129. Each family description includes a plate of full color photographs, illustrating exemplars of the group along with dissected and labeled material to show diagnostic features.The book includes a new chapter on species concepts and the role and impact of plant systematics in conservation biology, and a new appendix on statistical and morphometric techniques in plant systematics. It also contains more detailed explanations of maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogeny inference methods, an expanded coverage and glossary of morphological terms, and an updated chapter on botanical nomenclature.This book is recommended for graduate and undergraduate students in botany, plant taxonomy, plant systematics, plant pathology, plant anatomy, and ecology as well as scientists and researchers in any of the plant sciences. - Fifteen fern families, 9 gymnosperm families, and an increase of angiosperm family treatments from 100 to 129. Each family description includes a plate of full color photographs, illustrating exemplars of the group along with dissected and labeled material to show diagnostic features - A new chapter on species concepts and the role and impact of plant systematics in conservation biology - A new appendix on statistical and morphometric techniques in plant systematics - In addition, the second edition contains more detailed explanations of maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogeny inference methods, an expanded coverage and glossary of morphological terms, and an updated chapter on botanical nomenclature
As intimate and meticulous as his revered portraits, Lucian Freud's magnificent paintings and drawings of plant life are gathered for the first time in book form. Lucian Freud's portraits are known for their spectacular detail and unflinching gaze. Although Freud brought the same qualities to his paintings and drawings of plants, flowers, and landscapes, these are largely unknown. This elegant book shows how working with plants emboldened Freud to experiment with style and composition. Reproduced in sumptuous plates that allow readers to indulge in exquisite detail, seventy-five works--including Two Plants, Bananas, Cyclamen, The Painter's Garden, and Interior at Paddington--reveal Freud's singular approach to plant life. Readers unfamiliar with this aspect of Freud's work will find many similarities to his portraits--earthy palettes, unconventional rawness, and assiduous attention to detail. From the delicate realism of the cyclamens' petals to the bold brushstrokes that immortalize his overgrown garden, readers will appreciate Freud's ability to portray plants in new and personal ways. Comparative illustrations from throughout art history accompany essays on the history of plants in art and an appreciation of Freud's oeuvre. This monograph is a tremendous contribution to Freud's legacy, one that will enrich his admirers' discernment while also introducing his thoroughly original depictions of plants to a new audience.
How herbaria illuminate the past and future of plant science Collections of preserved plant specimens, known as herbaria, have existed for nearly five centuries. These pressed and labeled plants have been essential resources for scientists, allowing them to describe and differentiate species and to document and research plant changes and biodiversity over time—including changes related to climate. Maura C. Flannery tells the history of herbaria, from the earliest collections belonging to such advocates of the technique as sixteenth-century botanist Luca Ghini, to the collections of poets, politicians, and painters, and to the digitization of these precious specimens today. She charts the growth of herbaria during the Age of Exploration, the development of classification systems to organize the collections, and herbaria’s indispensable role in the tracking of climate change and molecular evolution. Herbaria also have historical, aesthetic, cultural, and ethnobotanical value—these preserved plants can be linked to the Indigenous peoples who used them, the collectors who sought them out, and the scientists who studied them. This book testifies to the central role of herbaria in the history of plant study and to their continued value, not only to biologists but to entirely new users as well: gardeners, artists, students, and citizen-scientists.
"The book strikes a balance between classical fundamental information and the recent developments in plant systematics. Special attention has been devoted to the information on botanical nomenclature, identification and phylogeny of angiosperms with numerous relevant examples and detailed explanation of the important nomenclatural problems. An attempt has been made to present a continuity between orthodox and contemporary identification methods by working on a common example. The methods of identification using computers have been further explored to help better online identification. The chapter on cladistic methods has been totally revised, and molecular systematics discussed in considerable detail."--Jacket.
"Contains chapters on the conservation of herbarium sheets and on the collection and curation of the larger algae. The chapter on computers has been completely rewritten and much enlarged, as have those on pests and treatments, larger fungi and economic botany. The sections on liquid preservatives and on pesticides have been revised to take into account new health and safety regulations. An essential reference work for herbarium managers and technicians and for all those who are involved with the making and maintenance of herbarium collections." --NHBS Environment Bookstore.
Plants and flowers have always captured man's imagination, with their delicate harmonies and the perfection of their symmetrical forms. Over the centuries, the world of plants has stirred the aesthetic sense of many artists, who have approached the representation of the natural world with creative spirit. Art merged with science when man began to investigate Nature and her secrets with a critical spirit; botany and art then blended in a union that resulted in any number of splendid masterpieces. Guided by the accuracy of their observation, but also by a sense of wonder at the beauty of these botanical specimens, some of the greatest illustrators of the past have left us marvellous coloured images that portray the amazing wealth of the world's flora, from the most common species to the rarest varieties scattered in remote corners of the planet. This splendidly illustrated volume will guide the reader in discovering the golden era of botanical art. It is a journey through the centuries that illuminates the evolution of the techniques and the styles, and it offers a panorama of the most important artists who have captured the pure essence of the plant world, conveying its beauty to paper. Ranging from the first herbals dating from the Middle Ages to the florilegia that illustrate the species associated with specific regions or habitats, or from the artists who accompanied the great expeditions to every corner of the world. AUTHOR: Anna Laurent is an award-winning flora-focused author & artist. Her first book, Botanical Art from the Golden Age of Scientific Discovery, published by University of Chicago Press in 2016, explores 19th century educational classroom boards with research conducted in Prague, Berlin, London, Cambridge, and elsewhere. Organized by plant family, the book emulates a Victorian classroom while providing biographies of renowned illustrators and scientists. Previously, she was a contributing editor at Garden Design, where she wrote about the history of botanic illustration. Her forthcoming work will be featured in a new exhibition at Royal Botanic Garden Kew, London, and her award-winning 'Dispersal' photography series has exhibited across the United States.
