Plant Form: An Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plant Morphology by Adrian D. Bell (PDF)

Description

The ideal reference for students of botany and horticulture, gardeners, and naturalists. The diverse external shapes and structures that make up flowering plants can be bewildering and even daunting, as can the terminology used to describe them. An understanding of plant form—plant morphology—is essential to appreciating the wonders of the plant world and to the study of botany and horticulture at every level. In this ingeniously designed volume, the complex subject becomes both accessible and manageable. The first part of the book describes and clearly illustrates the major plant structures that can be seen with the naked eye or a hand lens. The second part focuses on how plants grow: bud development, the growth of reproductive organs, leaf arrangement, branching patterns, and the accumulation and loss of structures. Aimed at students of botany and horticulture, enthusiastic gardeners, and amateur naturalists, it functions as an illustrated dictionary, a basic course in plant morphology, and an intriguing and enlightening book to dip into.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “This book makes this complex subject accessible and manageable. . . . Functions as an illustrated dictionary, a basic course in plant morphology, and an intriguing and enlightening book into which to dip.” —Hobby Greenhouse From the Back Cover Flowering plants exhibit an immense range of morphological features, that is to say details of form and modification of structure. A growing plant reveals all sorts of phenomena, presenting the observer with innumerable curiosities of shoot and root. About the Author Adrian D. Bell, Ph.D, is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He has devoted his career to studying, teaching, and writing about plant morphology, serving as Senior Lecturer in the Schools of Plant Biology and Biological Sciences at the University of Wales and as Cabot Fellow at Harvard University.Alan Bryan studied with Adrian Bell at Bangor University, graduating with honors in Botany. A keen gardener with a lifelong interest in plants, he subsequently trained as a nurse but remains a botanist and illustrator at heart. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great illustrations, horrible organization of text. I bought this book as a plant enthusiast, someone who has never taken botany or plant physiology classes (beyond what’s covered in general and cell biology). I was attracted to the book because it is supposed to be an illustrated guide to morphology, thus I figured it would be a good place to start to learn about plant anatomy. While there are illustrations or photos on nearly every page, the author does a TERRIBLE job labeling/describing/explaining the illustrations. Many illustrations do not have descriptions (neither below nor in the accompanying text). This is my primary complaint.The other major problem is that the author seemed to be more focused on citing different page numbers and cross referencing than actually explaining terms, illustrations or concepts. This was quite frustrating in the beginning, because I was not familiar with lot of the terms and I had no idea what the numbers in parentheses were referring to. For example: on page 143 “Leaf production may be out of phase with stem elongation (329K)”, 329K is referring to page 329, illustration K. Having over 10 references to different pages in the book on almost every page makes it a little overwhelming.As I mentioned, the organization of the text leaves something to be desired and it is frustrating when I can not find explanations to illustrations (at least not where one would expect them: in the text of the same section or below the illustration). For example, on page 129 there is an image of different types of tree root architecture. There are 12 illustrations, labelled A-K. Illustrations B,I,J and L are completely lacking descriptions – therefore I see the illustration, but I have no idea what is being illustrated. The illustrations are not described in the text regarding tree root architecture on page 128. It is not until one arrives at page 132, where if you have a keen eye and haven’t completely given up, you will find an description of the previously unlabeled illustrations buried in the text on this page. This is one specific example of what you will encounter on EVERY page of this book. Therefore, if you are patient and willing to flip back and forth and navigate through poorly organized text and poorly labeled illustrations, you will find good and interesting content.

⭐I am more of a hobbyist than a true botany student (I’m actually a botany (B)/ plant systematics student, too) but with kids, work, and the other 13.5 hours I’m attempting this .. it’s a huge commitment.. I haven’t gained nearly as must out of the courses as I should have (the “B” after botany was from last semester..)Anyways. So I love plants. LOVE them. they’re my passion, but you really don’t ~*have*~ to know all their terms to love them..That being said, I was awestruck by this book. It’s beautiful, complex in a captivating and satiating way..Another thing that really deserves more time than I presently have, but I thoroughly enjoy it, I have learned quite a bit from what I have read so far, and I truck it around in my backpack.. (which is dumb, it’s totally heavy.. burden of knowledge? heh..) religiously. Seriously, this is a brilliant book.Dr Bell, I would love to have you visit my greenhouse and my university! (Well, my University’s greenhouse, but I’m its resident Mother Nature..)Come for a Chautauqua Lecture, maybe?EKU!

⭐It’s dense. I have a minor in Botany, albeit from 40 years ago. Recently, after four decades of chasing cows and growing grass and knowing all of the plant names on our property, I got interested in the travels and writings of a botanist who spent time in Central America. I was pretty rusty on plant morphology so, being a printed book person rather than an internet person, I ordered this book. What I thought I was going to receive was a nice book with well done line drawings, labeled with part names, sort of an external guide to help in plant identification. What I got is a really pretty book with lots of photos and drawings and thousands of words of minutia. I had forgotten what academia means when it says a book is easy to read and helpful. Really, it is both. I am having fun re-learning, but I’ve had to put my interest in Mr. Allen on hold.

⭐Adrian has constructed a brilliantly put together guide to the various morphological structures found in plants.The examples and photographs provide a very useful identification reference for the field work I do in both HongKong and Australia. I have no regrets purchasing this book and if you are an; amateur botanist, agriculturalist,horticulturalist, or a plant identification and morphology amateur like myself, then this books describes a lot about themore peculiar and fascinating appendages of plants. It would also be a beneficial aid to courses in Taxonomy and SystematicBotany. That Amazon chose to bundle this with two other books of a Taxonomy and Systematics theme was genius on their part.This book is useful even to those who are simply gardeners – it is quite accessible to a wide range of interested people.

⭐A well produced, comprehensive book, thoroughly indexed, beautifully illustrated both by excellent coloured photos and perhaps even more valuably by superbly clear line drawings, throughout, and all at an amazing price for the value it contains. The aspiring expert will read this avidly from cover to cover in time and the amateur gardener will simply dip into it via the index for the explanation and meaning of specialised botanical terms. A book not to be missed and likely to sell out before the demand has been met. Postage for non-US recipients is a bit steep but the service is fast, careful and efficient. So full marks from us ‘down under’ in New Zealand. Thank you Amazon.com

⭐The first edition of `Plant form’ came out in 1991, and this second edition is even better; all except for the size and shape. But then, it is a much expanded edition.The title tells you what the book does: it explains plant morphology. That sounds rather dry, but the book is so well designed, with clear lay-out, lots of colour photos and over a thousand line drawings, that it makes complicated systems look understandable – and that is quite something! And for those of us who mix up our inflorescence types, or who have temporarily forgotten those tree architectural models, or who just wish to know more about bud terminology: you find it all here. While the beginner is even luckier! Instead of having to plow through hardcore textbooks, this single volume gives you a straight course in many many aspects of plant form, and makes it all look easy, too. Large sections on leaf/root/stem/inflorescence morphology; sections on specific families such as sedges or cacti; and a section of over a hundred pages on growth and development, with branching patterns, dormancy, and the like. It is all there; and it is all made clear.This is a book made for browsing, and for learning. It is beautifully designed; the internal cross-referencing of terms is a model of clarity; the line drawings are excellent, with clear labelling; the photos are clear, and give examples from both the temperate and the tropical floras (which is not all that usual, and commendable). For professional botanists, for students, for anyone interested in plants – very highly recommended!

⭐Beautiful book that will fully explain and describe the structure and components of plants – full of beautifully printedphotographs – not just snapshots with unclear and ambiguous arrows stuck on them, properly taken pictures thatactually show you what feature or structure the text is explaining. Very professionally produced book – from cover tocover this book has quality. If you love plants and botany but constantly come across terms that you can’t quitefully understand because they are rarely explained clearly in other texts then this book will delight and empower you.I’m not exaggerating, this book increased my basic understanding of plant structure enormously and unambiguously,allowing me to really get the most from other books that I have on botany and wild-plant identification.This is an excellent book that is a pleasure to own and read. If you buy this one you will have a very big grin on yourface as you look at plants and say to yourself things like, ‘hmm, that must be a stipule’…..Don’t hesitate, buy this one it’s a beauty.

⭐… back in the mid 1970’s.It explains all the abstruse terminology that most other botany books assume you to simply know, but that most reasonably sized dictionaries do not define.At the same time it makes clear the physical features to which they apply, and the relationships between them.All done in a direct but interesting style, with lots of pictures and diagrams.it is great.

⭐bought for Level 3 Floristry course and tutor and learners love it

⭐a book with a lot of pictures/drawings, really telling you something about plant form. Exactly what I was looking for!

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