The Penguin Dictionary of Botany

Included Appendix

This dictionary encompasses in over 3,000 entries all the major fields of pure and applied plant science, including taxonomy and classification, anatomy and morphology, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology, plant pathology, genetics, evolution, and ecology. It also covers selected items from such related fields as agricultural botany, horticulture and microbiology, and includes entries on certain laboratory equipment and techniques. The dictionary should prove invaluable to 'A' level and undergraduate students of botany and biology and to naturalists, geographers, and others studying or working in related fields. It is also hoped it will be of use to any with a general interest in the plant world. The trivial, rather than systematic, names of organic compounds are used throughout. Table 2 in the Appendix lists the recommended chemical names of some of the commoner organic compounds. Higher ranks of plant groups (divisions, classes and the more important orders) are included, as are some of the larger families of flowering plants. The vernacular names of these are given where appropriate. Plant taxonomy is in a considerable state of flux and many new and often radically different classification systems have recently been published. Bacteria and viruses are included, although neither would normally be classified in the plant kingdom. Justification for this lies in their considerable importance in plant ecology and pathology.

The dictionary covers both the pure and the applied aspects of the subject and such related fields as agriculture and horticulture. Encyclopaedic in form and with an extensive cross-referencing system, it contains substantial articles on major terms and concepts as well as shorter articles