Flora

He manages to give plant life back the significance it deserves in this new book. Its spectrum ranges from moss to sequoias, from oceanic algae to the idea of sustainability that harks back to forestry.

Plants are all around us – everywhere. Often only parts of them: apples or other fruits, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, bouquets. There are often products in the mix too: ground herbs, ground corn in the form of flour, plant fibers, wood, pressboard. Fruits and seeds, whose biological function is to act as plants' storage organs, also provide many birds and mammals with sustenance. Crops and their cultivation have ultimately become a driving force behind innovation in human culture. Küster shows how individual plants develop from germlings to blossoms and fruit, but primarily traces the evolution of plants. The arrival of photosynthesis changed the entire world. One essential component of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere degraded over several billion years. But if we want to understand how to solve the climate crisis, we can and must let plants be our guide.