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preface t 



To the botanist flowering is of interest as the means of sexual 

 reproduction in the higher plants, and because the processes leading 

 to it provide experimental systems for the study of environmental 

 and internal controls of development— problems of basic significance 

 throughout biology. To the rest of mankind, which often has more 

 pressing problems to consider, flowering is nevertheless of the great- 

 est practical importance since agriculture is based on the control of 

 flowering and its resultant fruits and seeds. Flowering has been 

 studied with both attitudes for many centuries; only during the 

 past few decades, however, has a large body of knowledge about 

 flowering been accumulated. It is the purpose of this book to survey 

 this knowledge. The major emphasis, which simply reflects the 

 direction of most research, will be on processes affecting the initia- 

 tion and early development of flowers rather than on associated or 

 subsequent events. Historical details are omitted except when they 

 are required to clarify current concepts. 



I have tried to write for several kinds of readers, from graduate 

 students in botany and other branches of biology to laymen with 

 some formal training in science. Inevitably, then, any given reade? 

 will find some passages too elementary or others insufficiently ex- 

 plained. As for the relatively small group of professional plant 

 physiologists who specialize in the study of flowering, I hope this 

 book will serve as a useful review for them. They should not expect 

 to find much new in it, except perhaps another point of view, and 

 there are as many of these as there are specialists. 



This question of point of view, particularly in presentation, has 



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