Basics of Plant Physiology

Nevertheless the author expect to use this book successfully in both these courses. Although the discussion is necessarily concise, the subject has been treated comprehensively, and it is believed that few if any topics which would be considered significant by the majority of plant physiologists have been neglected. This text can be used as the basis for a conventional recitation course, or as a background source of information for student reading in connection with lecture discussion courses. There is a continuity of presentation from chapter to chapter which especially adapts the book to such a usage. If only certain topics are selected for laboratory or lecture consideration, reading of the intervening chapters should help the student to fit the classroom work into a coordinated picture of the science as a whole.  We have attempted throughout the text to bring into bold relief the fundamental principles of plant physiology rather than to present only an encyclopedic compilation of undigested and sometimes contradictory facts. Most of the discussions is based directly on data selected from the original literature much of which is presented in tabular or graphical form. A consistent attempt has been made to keep the discussion abreast of modern developments in plant physiology without neglecting concepts which have stood the test of time.