Botany : a functional approach / Walter H. Muller

Includes index.

1. Life and plants -- 2. Use of plants by humans -- 3. A few basic physical and chemical principles -- 4. Cell structure -- 5. Diffusion and the entrance of materials into cell -- 6. The plant -- 7. Stem structure -- 8. Stem function -- 9. Roots -- 10. Leaves -- 11. Energy, enzymes and digestion -- 12. Photosynthesis -- 13. Synthesis and respiration -- 14. Correlation of process, plant distribution and food chains -- 15. Transpiration and plant distribution -- 16. Mineral nutrition -- 17. Soils -- 18. Inheritance and variations -- 19. Plant classification -- 20. Kingdom monera -- 21. Division eumycota -- 22. Algal groups -- 23. Division Bryopta -- 24. Vascular plants: division psilophyta, lycophyta nad sphenophyta -- 25. Division Pterophyta -- 26. Division Coniferophyta -- 27. Division anthophyta -- 28. Evolution -- 29. Growth, development, flowering and plant movement -- 30. Our environment -- 31. Populations and their problems -- 32. Pollution -- 33. The beginning.

The general purpose and the specific goals of the text are not changed. The book is written for both science and non science students. For the former there is a sound basis for further studies in biology, especially in botany. They are exposed to basic biological concepts, with the hope that they will come to understand plant processes and grasp the importance of plants to all life. The interrelationships be- tween structure and function are indicated to facilitate an understanding of what plants do, how they do it, how this influences other organisms, how humans can utilize plants, and, possibly, how humans can manipulate plants. Photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, growth regulators, and genetics are covered in considerable detail because of their bearing on plant functions, distribution, variations, and utilization. As in previous editions, the functional and ecological aspects of plants are emphasized although structural detail is covered as necessary to clarify the manner in which cells and tissues participate in the various activities of the plant.