Bernhardt, Peter. The rose's kiss; a natural history of flowers - Book Review

Kliatt, Nov, 2002 by Gloria Levine Bryant

Univ. of Chicago Press. 268p. illus. bibliog. index. c1999. 0-226-04440-8. $16.00. SA

Bernhardt, a biology professor at St. Louis University, has filled the pages of this "natural history of flowers" with both information and beauty. It is a lovely book, studded with delicate b/w illustrations by John Myers, and a broad-viewed one. (The helpful glossary defines everything from "flower" to "tapetum.") The annotated bibliography suggests further readings for those who want to know more about exploitation of plants in manufacture of the Mexican beverage, "maguey," or additional sources for readers whose curiosity about bird pollination has been piqued. The index covers just about every botanical topic conceivable between "acacias" and "zygogynum." Bernhardt more than meets his stated goal of creating a book that is evocative of earlier nature writers such as James Berry and Harriet Keeler, while including updated information about structures and chemicals that these earlier writers in pre-electron micrograph days could never have dreamed of.

This is a book that serious flower lovers will appreciate as much as botanists--and that any science fans who enjoy lyrical science writing will relish. For anyone like a certain friend of this reviewer's--a high school teacher who was unexpectedly assigned to teach introductory horticulture and who needs a pleasant botany brush-up and update--The Rose's Kiss is a must-read. Gloria Levine Bryant, Teacher, Hoover M.S., Potomac, MD