Plant Physiology

• Main Author: Bidwell, R. G. S. 1927- Roger Grafton Shelford (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New York Macmillan 1979; ©1979
• Edition: second edition
• Series: The Macmillan biology series
• Subjects: Plant physiology
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: xx, 726 pages illustrations 26 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographies and indexes.
• ISBN: 0023094303

This book is an introductory text for undergraduate students in plant physiology or experimental botany. It presents current ideas about how plants function in narrative form, uncluttered (as as possible) with complex metabolic pathways or biochemical mechanisms. These are detailed separately in early chapters (Section II) and recalled in simplified form, or by reference, as required in the subsequent narrative. Summaries are introduced wherever the material covered in the preceding paragraphs or chapter is sufficiently complex or controversial to need review. This second edition is largely rewritten and updated. Some irrelevant material has been deleted, and a number of important topics have been clarified and revised to align them with modern develop ments in plant physiology. I have tried to present the subject in a sufficiently interesting style that students can read the text easily and get an overview of large areas of plant physiology, even though the length of their course or the interest of the instructor requires that they concentrate in depth only on part of the book. As a result, this text should be useful for either one-semester or two-semester courses. The whole field of plant physiology, together with the necessary biochemical background, is treated in sufficient depth that the book will also be useful as a general background or reference text for senior and graduate students. Moreover, the book is organized so that it can easily be used for half- or quarter-courses in plant physiology, experimental botany, plant biochemistry, or plant development, and the material in it can be rearranged or taken out of sequence to suit the preference of individual instructors. Section I is primarily review, but students should be sure that they are familiar with this essential background before proceeding. It also serves as a concise reference for the classification and occurrence of biological chemicals, plant and cell structure, water relations, and related topics. Section II covers the basic processes of the cellular metab olism of plants. Section III deals with the nutrition and metabolism of whole plants and their relationships with internal and external nutrient sources. The processes of plant development and behavior are summarized in Section IV, and the physiology of specialized groups of organisms and of special situations and plant relationships is described in Sections V and VI.