Alexander Von Humboldt by Now available in a new edition, this gorgeously illustrated book showcases botanical masterpieces by Alexander van Humboldt, one of history's great scientists and explorers. Recording Alexander von Humboldt's historic expedition to the Americas and Cuba--hailed by many as the "scientific discovery of America"--these intricate and delicately tinted prints reveal his revolutionary findings as he traveled through jungles, across rivers, and over mountainous terrain. The illustrations in the book give the English and Latin botanical names of the plants and are followed by an exhaustive index. Internationally renowned botanist H. Walter Lack lends his expertise to a fascinating essay that discusses Humboldt's significant contributions to the world of botany and scientific research. Technically precise, the prints are equally appealing to anyone who appreciates fine art and botanical illustration.
Blossoms: and the genes that make them by How do plants, even if still buried underground, know that it's their time to bloom? What signals them to begin the challenging task of making flowers, and how do they make the variety of flower shapes, colours, and scents? What kind of instructions does the plant carry? Flowers enrich the beauty of meadows and gardens, but of course, they are not there simply to please us. Biologically, blossoms form a critical aspect of the reproductive cycle of many plants. In this book, the distinguished scientist Maxine Singer explains what we have pieced together about the genetics behind flowering. She describes in a clear and accessible account the key genes which, regulated by other genes, modulated by epigenetic effects, and responding to environmental cues, cause plants to flower at a particular time, and define the variety of flowers. The remarkably intricate processes involved in making flowers have evolved in nature alongside the pollinating birds and insects that the flowers must attract if there is to be another generation. The processes involved in flowering have only been unravelled in the past twenty years, and the implications for ensuring production of food, including fruits and seeds, are profound. This is cutting-edge science, and we have much still to learn, but the story being revealed that lies behind the flowers in our gardens, parks, and fields is proving astonishing.
Cultivating Commerce by Sarah Easterby-Smith rewrites the histories of botany and horticulture from the perspectives of plant merchants who sold botanical specimens in the decades around 1800. These merchants were not professional botanists, nor were they the social equals of refined amateurs of botany. Nevertheless, they participated in Enlightenment scholarly networks, acting as intermediaries who communicated information and specimens. Thanks to their practical expertise, they also became sources of new knowledge in their own right. Cultivating Commerce argues that these merchants made essential contributions to botanical history, although their relatively humble status means that their contributions have received little sustained attention to date. Exploring how the expert nurseryman emerged as a new social figure in Britain and France, and examining what happened to the elitist, masculine culture of amateur botany when confronted by expanding public participation, Easterby-Smith sheds fresh light on the evolution of transnational Enlightenment networks during the Age of Revolutions.
The Jepson Manual by The second edition of The Jepson Manual thoroughly updates this acclaimed work, the single most comprehensive resource on California's amazingly diverse flora. The Jepson Manual, second edition, integrates the latest science with the results of intensive fieldwork, institutional collaboration, and efforts of hundreds of contributing authors into an essential reference on California's native and naturalized vascular plants. The second edition includes treatments of many newly described or discovered taxa and recently introduced plants, and reflects major improvements to plant taxonomy from phylogenetic studies. Nearly two-thirds of the 7,600 species, subspecies, and varieties the volume describes are now illustrated with diagnostic drawings. Geographic distributions, elevation ranges, flowering times, nomenclature, and the status of non-natives and native taxa of special concern have all been updated throughout. This edition also allows for identification of 240 alien taxa that are not fully naturalized but sometimes encountered. A new chapter on geologic, climatic, and vegetation history of California is also featured.
Pierre-Joseph Redouté : the book of flowers by Floral Masterpieces The finest floral treasures of Pierre-Joseph Redouté French flower painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) devoted himself exclusively to capturing the diversity of flowering plants in watercolor paintings which were then published as copper engravings, with careful botanical descriptions. The darling of wealthy Parisian patrons including Napoleon's wife Josephine, he was dubbed "the Raphael of flowers," and is regarded to this day as a master of botanical illustration. This elegant catalogue brings together all engravings from Redouté's illustrations of Roses and Choix des plus belles fleurs et quelques branches des plus beaux fruits (Selection of the Most Beautiful Blooms and Branches with the Finest Fruits) and the most astounding images from the Lilies. Offering a vibrant overview of Redouté's admixture of accuracy and beauty, it is also a privileged glimpse into the magnificent gardens and greenhouses of a bygone Paris.
What a Plant Knows by Plants can hear--and taste things, too! Thoroughly updated from root to leaf, this revised edition of the groundbreaking What a Plant Knows includes new revelations for lovers of all that is vegetal and verdant. The renowned biologist Daniel Chamovitz builds on the original edition to present an intriguing look at how plants themselves experience the world--from the colors they see to the schedules they keep, and now, what they do in fact hear and how they are able to taste. A rare inside look at what life is really like for the grass we walk on, the flowers we sniff, and the trees we climb,What a Plant Knows offers a greater understanding of their place in nature.| QK1 - | Botany - General interest, history, profession, gardens. |
| QK 100 | Geography, countries, regions (polar, tropics etc). |
| QK 474 | Spermatophyta. Phanerogams (trees) |
| QK 494 | Gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, Gnetales) |
| QK 495 | Angiosperms (flowering plants) |
| QK 504 | Cryptogams, Brophyta (algae, moss, ferns, fungi) |
| QK 655 | Plant anatomy |
| QK 710 | Plant physiology |
| QK 900 | Plant ecology |
| SB 1 - | Plant Culture |
| SB 317 | Horticulture |
| SB 406 | Flowers and flower culture |
| SB 450 | Gardens and gardening |
| SB 469 | Landscape gardening / landscape architecture |
| SB 599 | Pests and disease. |
| SB 990 | Economic zoology, agriculture zoology |
Campus libraries that have materials related to the biological sciences include:
Collections in these libraries can be discovered by searching the OskiCat catalog.
University of California, Botanical Garden
New York Botanical Garden
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, (UK)
Real Jardin Botanico (de Madrid) (Royal Botanic Garden, Madrid)