An Atlas of Plant Structure

This atlas contains 147 bright-field photomicrographs that illustrate the anatomy of bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. With each micrograph, there is an interpretive line drawing which is useful since many of the photographs are of fair quality only. The book is representative of thinking in the field of plant anatomy 50 years ago. There is no text, no information on specimen preparation or photography, and the captions provide minimal information. The contrast between this atlas and Plant Structure and Development by T. P. O'Brien and M. E. McCully, Macmillan, 1969, is striking. The latter book contains 155 illustrations of the structure of flowering plants, ranging from fine structure of cell organelles to external morphology of organs. There is an informative text, briefly written, and numerous literature citations. These authors use excellent macrophotography, bright-field, phase contrast, polarization, and Nomarski optics and electron microscopy to illustrate structure. These are all optical methods that are now used routinely to study plant structure, and any book that illustrates structure should show the results they yield. O'Brien and McCully also discuss methods of specimen preparation and photography and thus provide information that aids the observer to interpret their photographs. This book is the best atlas of plant structure now available.