Botany for Dummies®
Are you perplexed by plants? Turn to Botany For Dummies® for a user-friendly guide to this fascinating subject. In the engaging format beloved by fans of the For Dummies® series, Rene Fester Kratz explores plant structure, function, diversity, reproduction, inheritance and much more.
Kratz begins with the basics, explaining how plant cells combine to form tissues that then form familiar plant organs like leaves, flowers and fruits. She reviews the steps involved in photosynthesis, including the use of light energy from the sun to combine carbon dioxide and water to form sugar and oxygen. We also discern the differences between vegetative structures (stems, roots, leaves) and reproductive structures (spores, seeds, cones, flowers, and fruits).
Turning to plant physiology, we delve into the fundamentals of plant metabolism and review the mechanisms that plants use to transport materials and respond to environmental signals. (If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the water you use to water your petunias with, you’ll find out here.) The next section focuses on plant growth and reproduction. You’ll learn how plant cells divide, and take a look at basic genetics so you can follow how plants pass characteristics from one generation to the next. (If only Gregor Mendel had read this section, he could have spared himself all those messy experiments with peas.) The book next spotlights plant biodiversity, with a look at the unique features of mosses, grasses, evergreens, and flowers, and ends with the myriad ways people make use of plants in food, clothing, fuel, and medicine.
Complete with a list of Ten Weirdest Plants, including the insect-eating Cobra Lily and smelly Corpse Flower, Botany For Dummies® is your one-stop shop for learning about the world of plants.
Softcover : 384 pages
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ( July 12, 2011 )
Item #: 13-480851
ISBN: 9781118006726
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 9.2 inches
Product Weight: 20.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Copyright © Bookspan. Scientific American® is a registered trademark, used under license. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reserved.
45007201205ADFL
Card Security Code
The card security code is an added safeguard for your credit/debit card purchases. Depending on the type of card you use, it is either a three- or four-digit number printed on the back or front of your credit/debit card, separate from your credit/debit card number. To make shopping at Scientific American Book Club® even more secure, we require that you enter this number each time you make a credit/debit card purchase. Please note that your security code will not be stored with us even if you have saved your credit/debit card information.
