Visiting scholar Claire Williams looks at conifer reproduction through the lens of evolution in her new book


Pollen in the air? Also on the brain:

NESCent visiting scholar Claire Williams, also at the Forest History Society in Durham, North Carolina, and former science advisor at the U.S. State Department, has released a book entitled "Conifer Reproductive Biology" published by Springer Publishers.

Here, conifer reproduction is presented through the lens of evolution. Evolution is used as the thread for weaving together knowledge from several life science disciplines. Each part of the complex life cycle of these ancient seed plants is presented along with anecdotes, case studies and obscure sources.

Unlike previous books on the subject, conifer reproductive biology comes across as a dynamic area of emerging knowledge, not only a description of living fossils written in flat time scales.

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