Art of Plant Evolution, The

This beautiful mix of artand science offers abreathtaking look at theway that contemporaryscientific discoveries arechanging ourunderstanding of plantsand plant evolution. 136botanical paintings fromthe Shirley SherwoodCollection, by 84 artists, cover 50 orders of plants in118 families, and a total of 133 species, providing asweeping overview of the evolution of plants onearth.

The paintings display a sampling of the livingworld from fungi to daisies, including algae, mosses,ferns, conifers and flowering plants, arranged in themost up to date evolutionary sequence, determinedby recent DNA analysis. The text places each artist’s observations in thecontext of modern plant classification, providingreaders with a new understanding of the complexinterrelationships between plant species, and enhancing their appreciation of the botanical artist’sability to portray the delicate beauty of nature.