Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Origins 8
The first photosynthesis 8
Plants evolve 10
Algae flourish 12
First land plants 16
The rise of oxygen 20
Seeds, roots and leaves 22
Leafless plants 22
Plants take to the air 24
Seed evolution 28
Keeping stems upright 30
Roots make soil 32
The rise and march of forests 34
First trees 34
Ancient forests 38
Ways to make a tree 42
Conifers dominate 46
Forests in the Arctic 50
Friends and foes 52
Nutrients for plants 52
Carbon cycle 54
Plants as food 56
Insect pollination 58
The herbivores 60
Ancient plants 62
Giant clubmosses 62
Before flowers, ferns 64
Thriving horsetails 66
Food of the dinosaurs? 70
Cones of conifers 74
Transitional fossil 76
Long extinct seed ferns 78
Back from the brink 80
The lonesome pine 84
Extinctions 88
Climate and diversity 92
Latitude and diversity 92
Fruits and climates 94
Freezing and the fall 96
Flowers flee the Antarctic 98
Greening of the Sahara 100
Drifting continents 102
The leaf barometer 104
Aquatic fern 106
Savannah and grasslands 108
The taiga 110
Flowers 114
The origin of flowers 114
Early flowers 116
Fruits diversify 120
Sunflowers appear 122
Plants enlist allies 126
Dispersing fruits 130
Plants and us 134
Humans follow flora 134
Domestication of grain 136
Wetlands for well-being 140
Saving the seeds 142
Specimen Details 146
The Earth Over Time 152
Geological Timescale 154
Index 155
Further Information 159
Acknowledgements and Picture Credits 160