Fruit and Seed Production

Flowering and fruiting are key processes in the biology of higher plants, ensuring the transfer of genetic material from one generation to the next. In addition, as almost all of the world's agricultural and horticultural industries depend on the production of flowers, fruits and seeds, the study of the reproductive biology of cultivated plants is of fundamental importance to humankind. Surprisingly, therefore, this topic has received relatively little attention from environmental physiologists compared with studies on the growth and development of vegetative structures.

This book, based on a meeting held by the Environmental Physiology Group of the Society of Experimental Biology, sets out to correct this deficiency. The topic is given a broad and comprehensive treatment, with chapters covering the onset of flowering through to the development and growth of fruits and seeds, and finally to ecological and evolutionary aspects of fruiting. This volume will therefore serve as a useful introduction to the various aspects of flowering and fruiting and will also provide a thorough general overview of the subject for students and researchers alike.

Re-issue, originally published in 1992.

Contributors; Preface; 1. Plant reproductive biology: an overview H. W. Woolhouse; 2. The environmental control of reproductive development R. F. Lyndon; 3. Pollination and fertilization in higher plants S. J. Owens; 4. Embryogenesis D. J. Bowles; 5. Environmental and internal regulation of fruiting, with particular reference to Cox's Orange Pippin apple G. K. Goldwin; 6. Fruit growth and sink strength L. C. Ho; 7. Control of grain growth and development C. M. Duffus; 8. The regulation of maternal investment in plants A. G. Stephenson; 9. Ecological and physiological aspects of reproductive allocation C. Marshall and M. A. Watson; 10. Are the distribution of species determined by failure to set seed? C. D. Pigott; 11. Edible fruits in a cool climate: the evolution and ecology of endozoochory in the European flora Q. O. N. Kay; Index.