British Plant Life (Collins New Naturalist Series)

William Bertram Turrill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1870630831 ISBN 13: 9781870630832

Publisher: Godfrey Cave Collins Bloomsbury, 1989

The origins, habitats etc. of the flora of Britain

Review:

‘The New Naturalist series has brought a refreshing breeze into the stuffy literature on natural history. And we have now come to look forward to new volumes in this series, well written, beautifully produced, and awakening interest in some fresh feature on Britain’s countryside.

‘This book is...in every way up to the standards of its predecessors, a clar and substantial exposition of plan geography in Britain and it includes chapters on the geological history of the British flora, the story of plant fossils and the light they throw on the evolution of plants, the effects of glaciation, the plant communities to be found in Britain today, and some chapters on variation and heredity among plants. There are useful maps and plant distribution and over seventy excellent photographs.

‘Dr. Turrill’s book deserves a wide and varied public, from botany student to country squire. The text is serious reading by a distinguished botanist, a striking contrast to the frothy print that serves to eke out the pictures in so many books on nature study.’
Manchester Guardian

About the Author:

1890-1961. Botanist and herbarium curator, author of British Plant Life (1948). Keen naturalist from youth, largely self-taught. Joined Kew as assistant 1909 and remained there until retirement, from 1946-57 as Keeper of herbarium and library. Influential in changing plant systematics from herbarium-based to one of living plants, incorporating modern studies in ecology, cytology, chemistry and genetics.