The incredible journey of plants
Mancuso, Stefano2020
Book
When we talk about migrations, we should study plants to understand that these phenomena are unstoppable. In the many different ways plants move, we can see the incessant action and drive to spread life that has led plants to colonise every possible environment on earth. The history of this relentless expansion is unknown to most people, but we can begin our exploration with these surprising tales. Generation after generation, using spores, seeds, or any other means available, plants move in the world to conquer new spaces. They release huge quantities of spores that can be transported thousands of miles. The number and variety of tools through which seeds spread is astonishing: we have seeds dispersed by wind, by rolling on the ground, by animals, by water, or by a simple fall from the plant, which can happen thanks to propulsive mechanisms, the swaying of the mother plant, the drying of the fruit, and much more. Mancuso considers how plants convince animals to transport them around the world, and how some plants need particular animals to spread; how they have been able to grow in places so inaccessible and inhospitable as to remain isolated; how they resisted the atomic bomb and the Chernobyl disaster; how they are able to bring life to sterile islands; how they can travel through the ages, as they sail around the world.
Main title:
The incredible journey of plants / Stefano Mancuso ; watercolors by Grisha Fischer ; translated from the Italian by Gregory Conti.
Author:
Imprint:
New York : Other Press, [2020]©2020
Collation:
xv, 158 pages : colour illustrations, colour maps ; 24 cm
Notes:
Originally published in Italian as "L'incredibile viaggio delle piante". Rome : Editori Laterza, 2018.Includes bibliographical references.Translated from the Italian.
Contents:
Pioneers, Combatants, and Veterans -- Fugitives and Conquerors -- Captains Courageous -- Time Travelers -- Solitary Trees -- Anachronistic, Like an Encyclopedia.
ISBN:
9781635429916 (hbk)9781635429916 (hardback)
Dewey class:
581.3
Language:
EnglishItalian
Added title:
BRN:
671861
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Melbourne Library | -Science and Nature | SCIENCE 581.3 MANC | Available |