The Origin and Evolution of the Plant World

Three plant researchers describe in this book how plants emerged via the fusion of several differehttps://transferwise.com/user/account#activity-23297111nt types of simple prokaryotic organisms and, through algae, evolved into land plants. During their evolution, they survived global ice ages, violent volcanic eruptions, and collisions with celestial bodies. The authors follow the development of land plants along various paths – some of which have ended. Horsetails, quillworts and the Chinese temple tree are among the last remnants of once-great plant groups, whereas flowering plants now thrive, with their number of species exceeding all other plant groups combined. With the help of insects and fungi, flowering plants have reached this position. The final chapters provide a glimpse into the future of plants, our planet, and humanity, spanning 42 chapters in total.

Contents

Preface   v

I. From a Distant Past to the Present
1. Photosynthesis: From Solar Energy to the Energy of Life   3
2. The Emergence of Eukaryotic Cells   9
3. Sexual Reproduction   13
4. Chloroplasts   15
5. The Red-Brown Line of Evolution: Red Algae and Their Host Organisms   23
6. Dinoflagellates, a Strange Branch on the Red-Brown Track   31
7. Lives in Glasshouses: The Diatoms   35
8. Glaucophytes: A Small but Fascinating Twig on the Tree of Life   41
9. Multicellularity   45
10. Surviving in Nifelheim   47
11. Plant Life at the Transition from the Ordovician to the Silurian   53
12. Hand in Hand onto Land   59
13. Spikemosses and the Mysterious Appearance of Pyrenoids   69
14. Alternation of Generations   73
15. Stomata: No More Contact with the Atmosphere than Necessary   77
16. The Sense Organ at the Tip of the Plant Root   85
17. The First Forests and the First Forest Fires   95
18. Seed Ferns   101
19. The Disaster at the End of the Permian   105
20. Horsetails: The Small Tough Remains of a Once Mighty Clan 113
21. Quillworts and Their Remarkable Relatives   119
22. A Survivor: The Chinese Temple Tree, Ginkgo biloba   125
23. Cycads on the Decline   131
24. Pollen Tube, Double Fertilization, Endosperm, and Long-Lived Seeds   141
25. A New Partnership: Insects and Flowering Plants   147
26. Grasses Spread Over the Land Surface – and Help People Spread   155
27. One More Cooperation: Endophytes Some Flowering Plants in Our Time   167

II. Some Flowering Plants in Our Time
28. The Biggest and the Smallest Inflorescence – in the Same Family   175
29. The Flora of New Caledonia   179
30. The Genus Prunus: Beautiful, Delicious, and Poisonous   187
31. The Genus of Sweet Potato, Ipomoa   197
32. Hawthorn, Hippophad rhamnoides   203
33. Nuytsia floribunda – the Unique Mistletoe Tree of South-West Australia   209
34. The Fig Genus, Ficus   215
35. Euphorbiaceae and Rafflesiaceae   221

III. The Plants, Our Planet, and Our Future
36. Species and Biological Diversity   229
37. Speciation in the Flora of the Canary Islands   235
38. The High Alpine Flora Threatened Through Climatic Change   251
39. Darwin’s Botanical World: Reflections From His Thinking Path   257
40. Biodiversity Hotspots   271
41. Why Preserve Biological Diversity?   275
42. The Plants, Our Planet, and Our Future   277

Subject Index   279
Index of Genera   283