This is a refreshingly new introduction to the growth and development of flowering plants. Unlike many present day texts, the authors have skillfully described the physiology of the ‘whole plant’ and have avoided the detailed biochemistry of cellular metabolism.

In line with this deliberate policy the authors have turned their attention to subjects such as water relations, solute movement, nutrition and energy balances of the developing plant. These themes lead on to a description of the plant’s growth, growth movement, and morphogenesis. Such an approach inevitably omits consideration of major aspects of plant metabolism, more appropriately treated in an introduction to cellular physiology and biochemistry.

Considerable skill has been shown in the excellent illustrations both in line and halftone which accompany the text. Botany and biology students will find the work lucid and in line with modern university courses.