This book is written so that anyone who has completed a basic first-year university course in biology or botany will be able to use it without difficulty.

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Development in the vascular plants; 2. Embryogenesis: beginnings of development; 3. Analytical and experimental studies of embryo development; 4. The structure of the shoot apex; 5. Analytical studies of the shoot apex; 6. Experimental investigations on the shoot apex; 7. Organogenesis in the shoot: leaf origin and position; 8. Organogenesis in the shoot: determination of leaves and branches; 9. Organogenesis in the shoot: later stages of leaf development; 10. Determinate shoots: thorns and flowers; 11. The development of the shoot system; 12. The root; 13. Differentiation of the plant body: the origin of pattern; 14. Differentiation of the plant body: the elaboration of pattern; 15. Secondary growth: the vascular cambium; 16. Secondary growth: experimental studies on the cambium; 17. Alternative patterns of development; Credits; Author index; Subject index.