This text explores the means, processes and mechanisms by which plants change the orientation and juxtapositions of various organs in order to optimize their harvest of energy, and examines the major stumuli which provokes such responses. These interactions are re-described for higher plants through to ferns, fungi and algae, and the text constantly emphasizes the functional significance of particular growth movements to plants in their natural surroundings.

There are many recent works on the topic of light and plant growth. These have not only been written by experts, but are also, in the main, written for experts (or, at least, for those who already have a fair understanding of the subject). This book has its origins in a six-week course in plant photophysiology, and its aim is to provide an introduction to the subject at an advanced undergraduate level. The imagined audience is simply a student who has asked the questions: In what ways does light affect plant growth, and how does it do it? The book is limited to aspects of photomorphogenesis....