Water Plants

Agnes Arber (1879-1960) was a prominent British botanist specialising in plant morphology and comparative anatomy. In 1946, she became the first female botanist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. First published in 1920, this volume provides a detailed anatomical study of aquatic flowering plants, with a discussion of their evolutionary history. Arber describes the general anatomical and reproductive organs, life histories and physiological adaptations of aquatic plants in detail, with interpretations informed from her previous experimental work. The final section of this volume discusses the evolutionary history of aquatic plants in the light of affinities to terrestrial flowering plants. Arber's account of aquatic plants was the first general description of these plants published, and provides a classic example of the comparative anatomy studies which were central to botanical investigation during the early twentieth century. An extensive bibliography and over 170 illustrations are included in this volume.

Preface; Part I. Water Plants as a Biological Group, with a Consideration of Certain Typical Life-histories: 1. Water plants as a biological group; 2. The life-history of the Alismaceae; 3. The life-history of the Nymphaeaceae and of Limnanthemum; 4. The life-history of Hydrocharis, Stratiotes, and other fresh-water Hydrocharitaceae; 5. The life-history of the Potamogetonaceae of fresh waters; 6. The life-history of the Lemnaceae and of Pistia; 7. The life-history of Ceratophyllum; 8. The life-history of the aquatic Utricularias and of Aldrovandia; 9. The life-history of the Tristichaceae and Podostemaceae; 10. The life-history of the marine Angiosperms; Part II. The Vegetative and Reproductive Organs of Water Plants, Considered Generally: 11. Leaf types and Heterophylly in aquatics; 12. The anatomy of submerged leaves; 13. The morphology and vascular anatomy of aquatic stems; 14. The aerating system in the tissues of Hydrophytes; 15. Land forms of water plants, and the effect of water upon land plants; 16. The roots of water plants; 17. The vegetative reproduction and wintering of water plants; 18. The flowers of water plants and their relation to the environment; 19. The fruits, seeds and seedlings of water plants; Part III. The Physiological Conditions of Plant Life in Water: 20. Gaseous exchange in water plants; 21. Absorption of water and transpiration current in Hydrophytes; 22. The influence of certain physical factors in the life of water plants; 23. The ecology of water plants; Part 4. The Study of Water Plants from the Phylogenetic and Evolutionary Standpoints: 24. The dispersal and geographical distribution of water plants; 25. The affinities of water plants and their systematic distribution among the Angiosperms; 26. The theory of the aquatic origin of Monocotyledons; 27. Water plants and the theory of natural selection, with special reference to the Podostemaceae; 28. Water plants and the 'Law of loss' in evolution; Bibliography; Index.