Art of Plant Evolution, The

(Paperback)

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This beautiful mix of art and science offers a breathtaking look at the way that contemporary scientific discoveries are changing our understanding of plants and plant evolution. 136 botanical paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, by 84 artists, cover 50 orders of plants in 118 families, and a total of 133 species, providing a sweeping overview of the evolution of plants on earth. The paintings display a sampling of the living world from fungi to daisies, including algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants, arranged in the most up to date evolutionary sequence, determined by recent DNA analysis. The text places each artists observations in the context of modern plant classification, providing readers with a new understanding of the complex interrelationships between plant species, and enhancing their appreciation of the botanical artists ability to portray the delicate beauty of nature.

Author Bio

John W. Kress is curator and research scientist at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Shirley Sherwood has been collecting contemporary botanical drawings for nearly twenty years; her collection is arguably the world's most important private collection of twentieth-century botanical art.