The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study (Smithsonian Series in Comparative Evolutionary Biology)

Rating:
Summary: A good try, but not very satisfying
Review: This is a comprehensive and well written book about the evolutionary relationships among early vascular land plants. The problem with this book is that it is incomplete as far as the actual biology of these plants. The authors seem to spend endless time going over all the various features of these ancient plants but never once tell us why these features might be biologically important. Also, they analyze their plants in cladistic piece meal, that is, they never provide a single global cladistic analysis, which as far as I am concerned is a major methodological problem. This book is for the expert, not for students. And it is certainly not for the average reader.