Seeing Seeds: A Journey into the World of Seedheads, Pods, and Fruit (Seeing Series)

**“Llewellyn’s images reflect a depth of detail that until now, only the best botanical illustrators could approach.” —__The Washington Post__** A centuries-old saying goes, “Great oaks from little acorns grow.” But as this dazzling book reveals, there is much more to a seed than the plant it will someday become: seeds, seedheads, pods, and fruits have their own astounding beauty that rivals, and sometimes even surpasses, the beauty of flowers. Bitter melon seeds resemble a handful of rubies. Poppy pods could be __art nouveau__ salt shakers. And butterfly vine seeds look exactly like those delicate insects captured in mid-flight. Seeds also come with fascinating stories. Jewels of Opar got its name from a fabled city in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan stories. Lotus seeds sent into orbit by Chinese scientists came back to earth mysteriously altered. And fava beans—beloved of foodies—have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality: they can cause the debilitating condition known as favism in some individuals and at the same time combat the microorganism that causes malaria. In these stunning pages you’ll gain an understanding of how seeds are formed and dispersed, why they look the way they do, and how they fit into the environment. __Seeing Seeds__ will take you to strange and wonderful places. When you return, it’s safe to say that you’ll never look at a seed the same way again. What Is Inside A Seed? How Does It All Work? Why Do Some Seeds, Pods, And Fruits Have Such Strange Shapes? The Answers To These And Many More Questions Can Be Found In The Pages Of Seeing Seeds. Robert Llewellyn's Stunning Photographs And Teri Dunn Chace's Illuminating Essays Open Up A World Of Beauty And Fascinating Information That Will Forever Change The Way You Look At These Small Miracles Of Nature.--cover. Definition: What Are Seeds? Why Do They Exist? -- Form: Why Are Seeds So Diverse? -- Function: What Do Seeds Do, And How Do They Do It? -- Garden Flowers -- Weeds And Wildflowers -- Herbs, Spices, Fibers, And Medicine -- Fruits And Vegetables -- Shrubs And Trees. Photography By Robert Llewellyn ; Written By Teri Dunn Chace. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A centuries-old saying goes, Great oaks from little acorns grow. But as "Seeing Seeds" reveals, there is much more to a seed than the plant it will someday become: seeds, seedheads, pods, and fruits have their own astounding beauty that rivals, and sometimes even surpasses, the beauty of flowers. In these stunning pages you ll gain an understanding of how seeds are formed and dispersed, why they look the way they do, and how they fit into the environment. "Seeing Seeds "will take you to strange and wonderful places. When you return, it s safe to say that you ll never look at a seed the same way again." Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Table of Contents 8 Introduction 10 Definition: What are seeds? Why do they exist? 14 Form: Why are seeds so diverse? 28 Function: What do seeds do, and how do they do it? 44 Garden Flowers 60 Weeds and Wildflowers 118 Herbs, Spices, Fibers, and Medicine 158 Fruits and Vegetables 184 Shrubs and Trees 218 Metric Conversions 274 Recommended Reading 275 Acknowledgments 278 Index 279