Photobiology

Abstract

Of the many environmental factors that influence plant and animal life, light may be the most interesting. There is something especially intriguing about the thought of plant growth being controlled by and dependent upon rays that travel 186,000 miles per second from a luminous body 93,000,000 miles away. The formation of flowers and other reproductive structures discussed in the previous chapter is often strongly influenced by the light environment. This chapter and the two which follow are devoted to a discussion of the role of light in control of reproduction and other plant functions.