In this seventh edition of a text for undergraduates, Raven (Missouri Botanical Garden; Washington University) updates material on areas such as new molecular methods for studying plants, the evolution of angiosperms, and seedless vascular plants, and incorporates changes in the classification of protists and in taxonomy. The text continues to define plants as consisting only of bryophytes and vascular plants, covering all the groups of organisms traditionally considered by college departments of botany or plant biology. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR