Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Wolfgang Stuppy, Rob Kesseler, and Madeline Harley.
The Bizarre and Incredible World of Plants.
Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books, 2009.
cloth, 144 pp., ISBN 978–1–55407–533–1, $29.95.

Like fireworks in the night sky, startling images burst forth from the glossy black pages of this inquiry into the wonders of plant reproduction. The authors, recognized authorities in the fields of botany and microscopic plant studies, have produced a spectacular treatise containing an examination of plant reproductive parts and the role they play in the lives of plants and the entire planet. Authors Rob Kesseler and Madeline Harley have created a text that is easy to understand and fascinating. Through the use of special lights and scanning electron microscopy, artist Wolfgang Stuppy has produced remarkable otherworldly photographs of entire plants, as well as cross-sections of flowers. Unfortunately, the identifying legends for the images are located in the supplementary materials, where the print size is undecipherable and not very handy for a curious reader.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.