The Book of Seeds: A Life-size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World

摘要

Weighing in at nearly 2? kg, The Book of Seeds contains actual- and magnified-sized illustrations of seeds from a taxonomic spectrum of 600 wild and cultivated species from around the globe. The high-quality images allow a reader to appreciate the intricacies of seed morphology—from the spiky surface of Silene dioica to the fiber network of Telfairia pedata. The bright red of Abrus precatoris seed or the mottled appearance of Ricinus communis seed leap from the page. The actual size of Vanilla planifolia seeds is so tiny that multiple seeds about the size of a dime need to be shown in contrast to Lodoicea maldivica seed that spans the bottom of 1? pages—and this only shows the top-most part of the seed. From the twohorned seed of Trapa natans to the black-hair covered seed of Protea cynarioides, I believe a reader will be enthralled at all the textures, colors, sizes, shapes, and appendages of seeds that this book captures.