Author's preface top ↑
The last time (SCHNARF 1933; CHAMBERLAIN 1935) when the literature on the
embryology of gymnosperms was compiled, the facts could hardly be woven into
generalities. In fact the information was gathered mainly under the
subheadings of the different orders or families of the group. In the
intervening period, as literature built up, several botanists started looking
at it conceptually and thus many unifying principles have emerged. Also a
need for enhanced world resources of timber and wood pulp, has led to the
development of tree breeding as a discipline. This discipline uses and also
advances our understanding of the embryology of gymnosperms. Thus literature
compilation in the area which is part of basic science (and therefore
justifying its pursuit) and also of applied value (and thereby constituting
relevant research) seems doubly fruitful. Bringing the recent information
under one cover, so that it may be useful to the advanced level botany
students had also been in my mind while writing the book. And above all the
charm of the subject itself has a spell on me. The occurrence of pollination
drop, alveoli in female gametophyte, the tiered embryo in conifers, the long
lasting life cycle, the enigmatic Gnetum and Welwitschia, the
far flung and restricted distribution of several taxa, all seem unique. And
some of these phenomena have passed to the present times, unchanged through
their long geological history. The pollination drop mechanism was present even
in the Palaeozoic times! Is it not likely that even the karyotypes of many of
them may not have altered over millions of years?
Of interest to every botanist, food technologists, pharmacologists, specialists in forestry, paleobotanists, relevant research institutes, institutes for applied botany, institutes for wood research, agricultural colleges, science libraries.