This is a selection of striking and informative images of pollen, seeds and fruit as you have never seen them before. It will appeal to anyone interested in natural botany, wildlife, art and photography. Authors include a leading artist and botanists from the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A ground-breaking collaboration between an artist and two botanists, Wonders of the Plant Kingdom 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 plant's 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. Wonders of the Plant Kingdom 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.
Wolfgang Stuppy is the Seed Morphologist for the Millennium Seed Bank Project at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Rob Kesseler is a professor at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. Plants have long been a source of inspiration for his work. Madeline Harley PhD is a former Head of the Palynology Unit (Jodrell Laboratory) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.