The Evolution of Plants examines evolutionary recording and methods of reconstruction of plant life. It also discusses the earliest forms of plant life, the colonization of land, the first forests, and the major emergence of the seed plants. Other chapters look at flowering plant origins, the past 65 million years, and the mass extinctions and persistent populations. Towards the end, the text looks at ancient DNA and the biomolecular record, as well as evolutionary theories and the plant fossil record.