Grew’s anatomical studies of plants

Nehemiah Grew was educated at Cambridge and is regarded by some as one of the founders of plant anatomy. In 1672 he published the first of his great works, The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun, followed in 1682 by The Anatomy of Plants. Although Grew clearly recognized cells in plants, referring to them as vesicles, or bladders, their biological significance evaded him. He is best known for his recognition of flowers as the sexual organs of plants and for his description of their parts. He also described the individual pollen grains and observed that they are transported by bees, but he did not realize the significance of that observation. Twelve years after the publication of The Anatomy of Plants, a German physician utilized Grew’s anatomical studies in experiments to verify sexual reproduction in plants.