
Botanist and author, Chris Throgoods takes readers on a journey through the history of plants from algae to flowering plants, to show how plants slowly changed from tiny organisms composed of one cell to large plants with roots, stems, leaves and flowers. After introducing the concepts of geologic time and the family tree of plants, he describes the unique characteristics of each major group of plants: algae, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, horned worts), lycopods (first vascular plants), ferns, horsetails, Ginkgo and its relative, cycads, conifers, and several different groups of flowering plants. He gives fascinating details about both extinct and extant species in each group, along with a pronunciation guide for the name, time when the plant was alive, and the size. For example, the entry for Nepenthes (Nep-enth-eez), tells us that the plant is alive today, and has leafy pitchers about 8″ long where bats hide from predators and poop in the pitchers. The bat manure provides nutrients that help the plant survival in poor soil. Interesting plant!
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