DK - The Science of Plants: Inside their Secret World

INSIDE THEI R SECRET W ORLD

INSIDE THEI R SECRET W ORLD

About this eBook

DK LONDON DK DELHI Content pre viously p ublished a s Flora in 2 This edit ion publ ished in Gre at Brita in in 2022 by Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, One Embassy Gard ens, 8 Viaduct Gard ens, London, SW11 7BW The auth orised re presentative i n the EEA is Dorling Ki ndersley Ve rlag GmbH . Arnulfs tr . 124, 80636 Munich, Germany Copyright 2018, 2022 Dorling Kindersley Limited A Pe nguin Random House Company 10 9 8 001326348May/2022 All righ ts re served. No part of this publica tion may be re produced, s tored i n or intro duced i nto a re trieval s ystem, o r tra nsmitted, i n any for m, or by any means (ele ctronic, mechanic al, photo copying, re cording, or otherwise ), without t he prior written permissio n of the copyr ight ow ner . A CIP catalogue re cord f or th is book is av ailable f rom t he Bri tish L ibrary . ISBN: 978-0-2415-1550-1 Print ed in China www. dk.com Senior Pictur e R esear cher Surya S ankash Sara ngi Senior Jack ets Coor dinator Priya nka Sharma-Saddi Managing Jackets Editor Saloni Singh Picture Re search Manager Ta iyaba Kh atoon Senior Jacket Designer Suh ita Dhara mjit DTP Designer Rak esh K umar Senior DTP Designer Har ish Aggarw al Production Manager P ank aj Sh arma Senior Editor Helen Fe wster Project Editors Nat han Joy ce, Anna Limmerick , S imon Maughan, Steve Setfo rd, D avid S ummers, Angela Wi lkes, M iezan va n Zy l Editorial Assistant Daniel B yrne DK Media Arc hive Romaine Werblow Production Editor Jacquelin e Stre et-Elkaya m Managing Editor Angeles Gavi ra G uerrer o Associate Publishing Director Liz Wh eeler Publishing Director Jonath an Met calf Senior Art Editor Sha ron S pencer Project Art Editors Ra y B ryant , Phil Gambl e, Va nessa Hamilton Photographer Gar y Ombler Illustrator s Dominic Cl ifford, Alex Lloyd Jacket Designer Akiko K ato Jacket Design Development Manager Sop hia MTT Senior Production Contr oller Me skere m Berhane Managing Art Editor Michael Duffy Art Director Ka ren S elf Design Director Phil Ormero d

The R oyal Botan ic Gar dens, Kew i s a wor ld fa mous s cientic organi zation, internatio nally respe cted for i ts outs tandi ng colle ctio ns as well as its sci entic expert ise i n plan t diver sity , c onserv ation, a nd s ustain able d evelopment around t he w orld. K ew s 13 2 he ctare s (32 0 acre s) of lan dscaped gard ens, and W akeh urst Kew s Wild Bota nic Ga rden i n Suss ex att ract over 2 .5 millio n visits ever y year . Kew was made a UNES CO Wo rld He ritage Site i n July 2 and c elebrated its th anniver sary in 201 Wake hurst is hom e to Ke ws Millennium Seed Ban k, th e lar gest wild p lant se ed bank in the world . RBG K ew receives approxi mately o ne th ird of it s fundi ng fr om Gove rnment through the Depart ment f or the Environ ment, F ood a nd Ru ral A airs (De fra) and r esearch councils. Furt her f unding needed to sup port RBG Ke ws vita l work comes from d onors, members hip and commer cial ac tivit ies i ncluding book sales. The Ro yal Botanic Gardens, K ew Contributors Jamie Ambrose was an a uthor , ed itor , a nd F ulbrigh t sch olar w ith a spe cial interes t in natu ral h istor y . He r bo oks include DKs Wildlife o f the Worl d . Dr Ross Bay ton is a bo tanis t, tax onomist, and ga rdener with a pa ssio n for the plant wo rld. H e has auth ored b ooks, mag azi ne fea tures, and scienti c pap ers encourag ing r eaders to und erstand and appreci ate th e impo rtan ce of plants . Matt Candeias is th e aut hor a nd h ost of th e In Def ense of Plan ts blog a nd po dcast (ww w. indefenseo fplant s.co m). T ra ined as an e cologis t, M att focuses most of his research on pl ant con serv ation. He is al so an avid gard ener , bo th ind oors and out. Dr Sa rah J ose is a pro fessiona l sc ience w riter and langu age editor with a PhD in botany , a nd a dee p love of pla nts. Andrew Mik olajski is the auth or of over 3 0 boo ks on pla nts and gard ening. He has lect ured i n ga rden histo ry at th e Engl ish Gar dening S chool at Che lsea P hysic Garden and for th e Hist oric Hou ses As sociation . Esther Ripley is a for mer m anagin g ed itor wh o wri tes o n a ra nge o f cultu ral subjec ts, includ ing ar t and litera ture. David Summers is a wr iter a nd e ditor with a tr ainin g in na tural histo ry lmmak ing. He has contr ibuted to bo oks on a r ange of subj ects includ ing natu ral h istor y , geography , an d sc ience. Half-t itle pag e Bird o f pa radise ( Streli tz ia regi nae ) Title pag e Nor ther n s ea o at ( Chasm anthium l atifolium ) Above Autu mn tr ees changi ng colo ur Contents page Nigella papil losa Af rican Bride This book was made with For est Stewardship Council certied paper one small step in DKs commitment to a sustainable futur e. For mor e infor mation go to www. dk. com/our-green-pledge

what is a plan t? type s of pla nt classif ying plan ts brous roo ts tap r oots plant support s absorbin g nutr ient s storage s ystems plant s in ar t: impr essions of natu re nitr ogen xing the y aga ric contr actil e roots aerial roots the stra ngler g living on ai r parasi tic plan ts mistl etoe roots i n wat er water li lie s breath ing r oots mangrov es type s of stem inside stems plant s in ar t: natural renai ssanc e tree trunks type s of bar k the qu aking aspen branch arrang ement wint er buds insulat ed buds cauli orous p lant s stem defences the kapok tree stems an d resin the d ragon tre e stori ng fo od benecial relati onshi ps brous t runks plant s in ar t: west meets east twining stems climb ing tec hniqu es storage s tems the s agua ro ca ctus lea ess stems new plan ts f rom stems moso bamb oo the pl ant king dom roots stems an d bra nche s

type s of leaf leaf s tru ctur e compound leaves plant s in ar t: designe d by natu re developin g leaves unfurlin g fern s leaf a rrange ment plant s in ar t: botan ic rei nve nti on leaves an d th e water cy cle leaves a nd l ight leaf size leaf s hapes drip tip s leaf m argin s hairy fol iage plant s in ar t: ancien t herbal s succule nt foli age waxy leaves the quive r tr ee silve r leaves varie gated le aves the ja panese maple autu mn c olour s sting ing leaves the s weet t hor n leaf def ences leaves i n ex treme s the b ismarc k pal m oati ng le aves plant s wi th pools leaves t hat eat sundews leaves t hat reproduce protecti ve brac ts type s of brac t leaves a nd s pine s parts of a ower ancient owers ower sha pes ower develo pment owers and s easons plant s in ar t: chine se pa int ing ower fer tiliza tion polle n gr ains encour aging dive rsity managin g poll en plant s in ar t: japanes e woodblo ck pri nts unisexual plan ts incomp atible owers the t itan aru m owers that change sex inor escences type s of in ore scence rays and d iscs the s unow er wind -poll inate d owers grass owers owers and n ectar stori ng ne ctar design ed for v isit ors precision poll inat ion buzz po llin atio n plant s in ar t: radical vi sions wint er blooms owers for bir ds owers for an imals ying visi tors the queen of th e nig ht colour att racti on nectar gu ides the h oll yhock colour sign als seed str uctu re naked seeds inside seed cones enclosed seeds type s of fr uit plant s in ar t: ancien t ga rdens fl ower to fr uit fruit anat omy the b anana seed di stri buti on dispers ed by di et colour ful seeds plant s in ar t: art a nd sc ience animal couri ers seeds w ith wi ngs the d andel ion seeds w ith para chut es silky seeds common m ilkwe ed pods and capsul es explod ing seedpods nigell a seeds an d r e water di spersal plant s in ar t: paint ing the wor ld natural clones fern spores spore to fe rn haircap mosses restr icted e ntr y fragrant trap s the c orp se owe r special relati onshi ps natural mim ics design ed to deceiv e self- poll inat ing ow ers plant s in ar t: blooms fo r royal ty closin g at ni ght bud defences armou red ow ers colour ful bracts plant s in ar t: amer ican enth usias ts cone reprod uctio n glossar y index list of bota nical ar t acknow ledgm ents owers leaves seeds an d fr uit s