BOOK REVIEWS

Botany for Gardeners

Brian Capon
Timber Press
Distributed by Craig Potton
$NZ34.99
Reviewed by Mike Gowing

ALTHOUGH we are involved with growing plants, possibly the last time we tried to get to grips with botany was when we drew pictures of dissected beans from the nature table at primary school. Botany for Gardeners is an ideal way to revisit Botany 101. It deals with germination, the structure of plants and their adaptation to the environment, in fact the whole process of growth in a simple, no-nonsense way. Particularly pertinent are chapters on how plants use water, minerals and light and on how fruits are formed from flowers.

American Brian Capon, a botany professor a UCLA, has revised his best-seller from more than a decade ago to include a couple of dozen new pictures. There's also a succinct appendix on the mysteries of plant taxonomy. Although crammed with interest Botany for Gardeners' readable style makes it readily accessible for the least scientific of us, myself included.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH