Plants for the Future: A Gardener's Wishbook

Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.: Timber Pr, 1996. No edition stated. Hard cover binding, 224 pp. In these lively and provocative essays, scientist and visionary Jerome Malitz speculates on the plants that may be created in the future by genetic engineering and creative hybridization. With the golden age of plant discovery now mainly a thing of the past, the quest for new varieties leads to the laboratory or to chance mutations in the garden. Such biotechnological innovations as protoplast fusion, gene transfer, and in vitro fertilization are already being applied to create new and improved plants. In layman's language, Malitz introduces the basics of taxonomy, heredity, genetic engineering, and biotechnology as they relate to the possibility of creating new plants for a variety of environments. He then presents a detailed wish list, observing desirable qualities found in tender or fussy members within various plant families that might be bred into hardier species to create presently unimaginable plants for tomorrow's gardens. New in new dustjacket.. Hard Cover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.