Green Inheritance: The World Wildlife Fund Book of Plants

In this timely, comprehensive volume British botanist Huxley documents the remarkable contributions made by plants to world culture, the strains placed on these ``green resources'' today and the price we are paying for the loss of plant species and sustainable natural environments. Green Inheritance was first published in 1984 as part of a joint effort to focus attention on such issues by the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In this revised edition for the 1990s Huxley writes clearly and intelligently, without pretension or botanical jargon, and provides a perfect layman's introduction to difficult choices. Saving the plants that save us, as he puts it, involves more than setting aside reserves for rain forests and pandas; it requires grass-roots education and action, government leadership and international cooperation to preserve genetic diversity built up by centuries of natural selection and human breeding. The author profiles dozens of plants whose discovery and development significantly changed human life--essential staple crops that feed the world, exotic herbs and spices, crops for industrial uses, medicinal plants, ornamentals, curiosities. The bottom line is that all life on earth depends on plants; their current rate of destruction endangers life. (Feb.)