How flowers made our world The story of nature's revolutionaries

Flowers "belong at the center of the story of how our world came to be," argues biologist Haskell (Sounds Wild and Broken) in this passionate examination. Compared to other lifeforms, flowers were "latecomers," evolving after many complex animals in the fossil record some 150--200 million years ago. The plants quickly diversified and became "champion relationship-builders," as insects, birds, and other animals came to rely on them for food and shelter. Haskell explains how the study of goatsbeard helped scientists discover that some flowering plants duplicate their genomes, a process that allows them to adapt and evolve. The flexibility of plant genetics enabled the development of important crops that supported agrarian civilizations, like wheat, oats, potato, and cotton. Grass, another flowering plant, has also been key to sustaining human populations, building organic and fertile soils and forming a large portion of the calories people consume (rice, maize, and wheat are all grasses). Elsewhere, Haskell demonstrates how flowers elucidate the past--Carl Linnaeus's classification of flowers in the 18th century helped usher in the theory of evolution--and offer lessons for the future, such as "thriving worlds grow from cooperation." Through deep research and lyrical prose, Haskell triumphantly recasts the role of flowers as foundational to humanity. This is astonishing. (Mar.)

Flowers through time. "We live on a floral planet," declares award-winning biologist Haskell in a fascinating examination of the enormous impact that flowering plants have had on all life. Flowers appeared about 200 million years ago, following complex animals and other land plants, such as ferns and conifers. Through rapid and continuing doubling of their genome, followed by selective pruning, their advent was dramatic: "By one hundred million years ago," Haskell writes, "they were the foundation of most habitats on land" proliferating into almost all of the main branches of flowering plants that exist today. Haskell focuses on eight plants in particular: magnolias, which were contemporaneous with dinosaurs; goatsbeard, which responded to environmental stresses by chromosomal doubling; orchids, whose evolutionary survival--an astounding 28,000 species--exemplifies the interweaving of "sky and soil, flying pollinators with root-bound microbes and fungi"; grasses, which produce small flowers along stalks and "evolved hidden biochemical superpowers"; seagrasses, distantly related to land grasses, which provide habitats for aquatic animal life; roses, whose volatile oils--and alluring fragrance-- is a result of "genetic exuberance"; teas, once a mainstay of international trade; and pansies, both field pansies and the hundreds of new varieties bred by horticulturists. Haskell speculates on the future evolution of flowers as they respond to environmental challenges wrought by humans, such as climate change and impoverished soil. Flowers are "genetically malleable and resilient," able to change their strategies of reproduction--from showy blooms to attract pollinators to self-fertilization, for example. Besides bringing beauty and joy into the world, flowers, Haskell asserts, can teach humans an important lesson: "Thriving worlds grow from cooperation, mediated by beauty, with some illusion thrown in." A final chapter suggests playful ways to connect with flowers. An edifying celebration. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.