Introduction 



The study of the morphology of Uving organisms is one of 

 the oldest branches of science, for it has occupied the 

 thoughts of man for at least 2,500 years. Indeed, the very 

 word 'morphology' comes from the ancient Greeks, while 

 the names of Aristotle and Theophrastus occupy places of 

 importance among the most famous plant morphologists. 

 Strictly translated, morphology means no more than the 

 study of form, or structure. One may well ask, therefore, 

 wherein lies the intense fascination that has captured the 

 thoughts and imagination of so many generations of 

 botanists from Aristotle's time to the present day; for the 

 study of structure alone would be dull indeed. The answer is 

 that, over the centuries, morphology has come to have wider 

 imphcations, as Arber- has explained in her Natural Philo- 

 sophy of Plant Form. In this book she points out that the 

 purpose of the morphologists is to 'connect into one 

 coherent whole all that may be held to belong to the intrinsic 

 nature of a living being'. This involves the study, not only of 

 structures as such, but also of their relations to one another 

 and their co-ordination throughout the hfe of the organism. 

 Thus, morphology impinges on all other aspects of hving 

 organisms (physiology, biochemistry, genetics, ecology, etc.). 

 Furthermore, the morphologist must see each hving organ- 

 ism in its relationship to other living organisms (taxonomy) 

 and to extinct plants (paleobotany) whose remains are 

 known from the fossil record of past ages extending back in 



II 



