Wily Violets and Underground Orchids: Revelations of a BotanistIn this book, Peter Bernhardt takes us on a grand tour of the botanical realm, weaving engaging descriptions of the lovely shapes and intriguing habits of flowering plants with considerations of broader questions, such as why there are only six basic shapes of flowers and why the orchid family is so numerous and so bizarre. Everyone from amateur naturalists and gardeners to plant scientists will find Wily Violets and Underground Orchids a lively guide to botanical lore. |
Contents
Trees of Two Seasons | 1 |
A Childs Garden of Gumnuts | 13 |
A Country of Mistletoes | 27 |
Prairie Days | 41 |
The Floral Theater | 51 |
The Forms of Flowers | 53 |
Pollinating Possums | 67 |
Beetles Blossoms and the Blood of Adonis | 81 |
In the Shadow of Forest and Glacier | 125 |
Hanging by Their Heels | 139 |
Those Unnatural Flowers | 153 |
Ladys Wear | 155 |
San Salvadors Urban Orchids | 169 |
Orchidelirium | 183 |
Charles Darwin and the Christmas Star | 195 |
The Fiendish Orchid | 205 |
An Ancient Moth for an Ancient Flower | 89 |
Portraits in Chlorophyll | 99 |
Royal Amazons | 101 |
The Wily Violets | 111 |
Orchids in the Dark | 213 |
Index | 241 |
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Common terms and phrases
American animals anthers Australian mistletoes Banksia bees beetles biology birds blossoms botanists bracts branches bromeliads buds bumblebee capsules cells Chapter Christmas Star clusters collected colonies color comet orchid Cryptanthemis Cypripedium species Darwin dense dry season epiphytic Erythronium eucalyptus fertilized floral flowering head flowering plants forest fragrance fruit genes genus Gibbs grow habitats honey possum host hybrid insects known Konza labellum lady's slipper leaf leaves living lowland mammals marsupials mature Meyers Missouri Botanical Garden mistletoe Munglinup native natural nectar glands North America offer orchid flowers orchid species organs parasite petals pistil pollen grains pollinia populations Postscript 2002 prairie produce pseudobulbs reproductive Rhizanthella Rhizanthella gardneri rhizomes roots scientists seeds sepals shrubs Snugglepot and Cuddlepie soil sphinx moths spur stalk stamens stems survive tallgrass Tillandsia Tillandsia species tiny tongue trees tropical trout lily tube underground orchid Victoria Viola violet water lilies wild wildflowers yellow Zygogynum