Advances in Botanical Research

This latest volume again contains something for botanists of all backgrounds, focusing particularly on evolution and palaeobotany, micro-ecology and biomechanics. Collinson reviews the Early Tertiary floras and presents new evidence on the evolution and diversification of land plants, using computer analysis of plant assemblages, and reconstruction of fossil plants and plant communities. Friis and Endress combine the skills of palaeo- and neobotanists to examine more closely the evolution and morphology of angiospern flowers. Miller turns his attention to the bacteria symbiotic in the leaf nodules of plants. This most complex of relationships between bacteria and higher plants involves a close and lifelong interaction at the deepest cellular level, and a fascinating system as yet only poorly understood. Vincent's niece deals with the fracture properties of plants; an important subject both for the plant trying to survive in a hostile environment and for its implications for agriculture and the palatability of food.Callow, J. A. is the author of 'Advances in Botanical Research' with ISBN 9780120059171 and ISBN 0120059177.