The book is divided into three parts that the author calls books, which cover different time periods, ranging between the 1530's and the 1860's.[1] The author had the goal to make a picture of the beginning of the scientific study of vegetation in the 16th century until the 1860's, a decade before the publication of this book.[2]
The book presented different works of classification based on physiology, phytonomy and morphology done by botanists such as Andrea Caesalpino (1516-1603), Otto Brunfels (1488-1534), Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), Hieronymus Bock (1497/98-1554), Matthias de l’Obel (1538-1616), Gaspard Bauhin (1541-1613), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Karl Nageli (1817-1891), Hugo von Mohl (1805-1872), and others.[1]
The first book, History of Morphology and Classification, discusses the work of botanists since Brunfels to Caspar Bauhin, as well as metamorphosis and the spiral theory, and the terminology of botany used which distinguishes between Cesalpino’s time to Linnaeus from 1583 to 1760.[1]
The second book, History of Vegetable Anatomy, covers the time period of 1671 to 1860. It includes phytotomy and discusses the work of its founders Malpighi and Grew, and the studies of cells and their formation. This book included figures such as Malpighi and Grew, the founders of phytotomy and also touches upon phytotomy within the 18th century.[1]
The third book, History of Vegetable Physiology, covers a time frame from 1583 to 1860, including topics such as the theory of evolution, the theory of plant nutrition and how the theory had developed from its founding up to 1804, as well as the history of phytodynamics.[1]