Book excerpt: Plant Physiology: A Treatise, Volume X: Growth and Development explores the physiology of plant growth and development, considering the morphogenesis and morphogenetic systems, dormancy, environmental cues in plant growth and development, plant senescence, the role of hormones in growth regulation, cell division, and growth and development in space. This volume is organized into eight chapters and begins with an introduction to morphogenesis as a developmental phenotype, emphasizing the cell and the shoot. The next chapters cover events in the life of the plant, reflecting the importance of the whole plant concept to the subject, and the ways in which these events are controlled and integrated into environmental signals and events. An experimental approach to a model system for dormancy is described, and then the discussion shifts to senescence and death of plants as aspects of plant development. This volume also presents a clear and illuminating overview of the major plant growth regulators and their modes of action. This book also introduces the reader to cell division and its effect on most major developmental events after fertilization, along with the genetic analysis of development and its control by genes. The final chapter focuses on the integration of plant growth studies with the technology of space travel, which permits analysis of plant behavior in the complete absence of gravity. This book is intended for researchers, students, and specialists in related fields who wish to gain insight on the concepts and research trends in plant growth and development.