From their ability to use energy from sunlight to make their own food, to combating attacks from diseases and predators, plants have evolved an amazing range of life-sustaining strategies.

Written with the non-specialist in mind, John King''s lively natural history explains how plants function, from how they gain energy and nutrition to how they grow, develop, and ultimately die. New to this edition is a section devoted to plants and the environment, exploring how problems created by human activities, such as global warming, pollution of land, water, and air and increasing ocean acidity, are impacting on the lives of plants.

King''s narrative provides a simple, highly readable introduction, with boxes in each chapter offering additional or more advanced material for readers seeking more detail. He concludes that, despite the challenges posed by growing environmental perils, plants will continue to dominate our planet.

"John King is an enthusiast and his breathless enthusiasm is liberally scattered throughout this book, which covers a very wide spectrum of plant physiology ... an excellent text for a general reading list for those about to start university courses in biology." Deri Tomos, Trends in Plant Science

"Dr. King brings excitement and wonder to what is arguably the most active area in botany today." Robert Wise, The American Society of Plant Biologists

"This is a book to be heaped with laurels, to be awarded the palm. This is a book to go bananas about." Tun Radford, The Guardian

"Reaching for the Sun...is fun as well as authoritative. It is ideal for the general reader..." Barrie Goldsmith, New Scientist