Publisher's Synopsis
A ground-breaking collaboration between an artist and two botanists, this book tells the story of how flowers disseminate their pollen and how the pollinated flower turns into a fruit beginning a whole new chapter in a plantÆs life. It is the success or failure of a fruit to disperse its seeds that decides the survival or extinction of a species. This crucial role of fruits and seeds explains the fascinating spectrum of strategies and ruses that plants have evolved over millions of years to achieve their dispersal. Apart from the delicious and enticing domesticated fruits we so love, nature also holds a stock of a wide variety of wild fruits. But whether they rely on wind, water, humans, animals or their own explosive forces, the dispersal strategies of fruits are reflected in a wonderful cornucopia of different colours, shapes and sizes. This book combines extraordinary images with a clear, easily accessible, yet scientifically accurate text explaining the different forms of pollen, seeds and fruit, and their role in preserving the biodiversity of our planet.
