Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, described the evolutionary origin of flowering plants, which appear to have risen abruptly during the late Cretaceous Period, as an "abominable mystery." The first seed plants appeared in the fossil record some 230 million years earlier, but the transitions leading to the flowering plants left few fossils and remain obscure. The evolutionary history of photosynthetic organisms is full of mysteries great and small, including the origin of photosynthesis itself, the origins of multiple independent lines of algae, the loss of flagella in the red algae, the origin of sporophytes in vascular and non-vascular plants, the early diversification of seed plants, and the origin of the unique monocots.
In Plant Life: A Brief History, botanist Frederick Essig traces how familiar features of plants evolved sequentially over hundreds of millions of years as various environmental challenges and opportunities were met. This chronological narrative begins with the origin of photosynthesis and the rise of cyanobacteria, continues with the evolution and diversification of photosynthetic eukaryotes and their invasion of dry land, explores the varied adaptations for sexual reproduction and dispersal in the terrestrial environment, and concludes with the diverse growth forms of the flowering plants. As different groups of photosynthetic organisms are introduced, the book emphasizes the adaptations that enabled them to gain dominance in existing habitats or move into new habitats. Readers will acquire a deeper understanding of the diverse photosynthetic organisms humans depend upon for food, oxygen, medicine, building materials, and aesthetic pleasure.
With accessible writing and a myriad of figures and illustrations, Essig provides a broad overview of plant evolution that will appeal to students and general audiences alike. Plant Life: A Brief History is a valiant step in the quest to unravel the "abominable mysteries" of plant evolution, and offers a compelling introduction to the exciting and complex world of evolutionary biology.
Industry Reviews
"It is remarkable that these diverse studies are edited to generate such a great coherence. [...] Taken together, this volume fills an important gap, since it links vital aspects for policy, conservation, and management with a nuanced overview building on local to regional examples. In times of ever shorter publications, this book is a valuable contribution. It provides diverse and layered information, just as the topic of wildlife conservation in farmland that
it focuses on." -- Henrik von Wehrden, The Quarterly Review of Biology
"This wonderful little book assays plant diversity. It is the publication I suspect we all thought we would write when we taught our first course on plant diversity. After reading Plant Life I wished that I still taught a course on plant diversity, for this would be my textbook, given its clarity, simplicity, and elegance." -- Larry Hufford, The Quarterly Review of Biology
"The author's narrative style introduces many of the topics commonly covered in introductory plant biology courses, and the book may serve as a valuable supplement for introductory courses by providing an approachable and evolutionary-based initiation to the general plant biological topics. ... Students studying plant biology may find this book a useful supplement to a traditional course text, and interested general readers will likely enjoy it as a stand-alone
text or in combination with more technical plant biological readings. Recommended." --Choice
"Essig has done a great job in retracing almost 4 billion years of evolution ... that has resulted in the plant life with which we share the planet today. But not only that, Plant Life is also well written --right from the first page of chapter 1. So, whilst it has the educational value of a textbook (and each of the chapters could easily be used as the basis of a lecture--or several in some cases!), it is eminently readable." --Annals of Botany
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