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b0udica's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
hebo1987's review against another edition
4.0
Korta kapitel om respektive träd med väldigt vackra illustrationer.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've read this year, this book is a keeper in personal libraries too. The reason why it took me so long to get through this book is because I was savoring it, reading page by page in short bursts.
The book has some fascinating facts about specific trees to get us thinking about nature, evolution, survival etc.
The book has some fascinating facts about specific trees to get us thinking about nature, evolution, survival etc.
benburns's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful set of 80 one-or-two-page essays about specific tree species around the world. Probably about half of these contain a stunningly fun fact or two. I felt compelled to take notes! Surprise after surprise: impressive adaptations, medicinal uses, improbable symbioses, and most of all, entertaining cultural stories and etymologies that link indigenous peoples, colonialism, and modern life. And the illustrations are gorgeous.
Some of my favorite notes, as a sample (of course the actual essays are much more eloquent):
Cork oak - Cork outer bark evolved as fire protection (and fungi and microbe); its insulation is so good that it’s been used on the space shuttle fuel tanks. Roman women liked cork sandals. No other untreated naturally occurring plant product is as inert in contact with so many substances. Perfect for bottle stopping not just because of the inertness and springiness, but also because when cut, air gaps are exposed and act like little microscopic suction cups against the glass. Greek and Egyptian amphorae had cork plugs, but the monk Dom Perignon himself was the one to popularize it for wine. Cork is the outer bark and can be harvested up to 8 feet up and once a decade after the tree is 20 yrs old, in May-June when it separates easily in semicircular sections (with help from a skilled axeman who can cut to the right depth: not too deep to cut inner bark, but not gentle strokes that will bounce off). The inner bark exposed around the trunk bottom turns deep red after a few weeks. And the trees are part of a managed ecosystem where their acorns feed livestock, especially pigs, and that supports wild lynx, eagles, and more. This system is great and is threatened by artificial corks, so buy wine with real cork.
Coco-de-mer - world’s largest seeds, shaped like a woman’s pelvis, a giant 65lb double coconut. Would float and rarely be discovered, thought an aphrodisiac, treasured and worth the equivalent of $70k in the 1750s until they were found to grow in the Seychelles and the market was flooded. Can grow 100 feet tall and 800 years, and the giant seeds probably evolved alongside megafauna like dinosaurs before the Seychelles split off from India and island gigantism grew them further. To not compete with their mother tree, a seed burrows a shoot 12 feet laterally from where it falls, and only then sprouts upward, still drawing nutrients from the seed.
Alder - rare among trees, it has a relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria in root nodules (up to apple sized) that lets it live in waterlogged, infertile soil. Once cut, moist alder wood rots quickly if exposed to air, but if kept underwater, it won’t. So the engineers of Venice built their city on it - 9 piles driven per square meter, with the tops still below the low tide mark (walling off and draining small areas bit by bit to drive the piles). Rialto bridge is built on it - most of Venice is, except for some larger buildings which needed oak. Also, alder made the best charcoal, making for more powerful and consistent gunpowder for cannons and mines, helping Venice rise as a military power. By the end of the 1300s, the foundry or ‘getto’ neighborhood (later to become the Jewish quarter) had some of the world’s best smelters, fired by alder charcoal. Venice could turn out one fully fitted warship per day.
Laurel / Bay - the source of bay leaves - at least the European ones - is also the laurel. Associated with purity from the myth of Daphne being turned into a laurel to escape from Apollo’s lust (and Apollo thereafter wearing a laurel crown), returning Greek generals would wear laurel to purify them after bloodshed. Over time through Greece and Rome they became associated with victory and achievement in general, leading to the words baccalaureate, laureate, and bachelor’s.
Whistling thorn - small tree in Kenya with thorns with bulbous hollow bases with holes in them so the tree whistles in the wind, possibly an evolved defense. Each thorn bulb is home to biting ants that drink nectar and swarm to protect the tree from herbivores. If the tree grows too close to another held by a rival colony, the two will fight, so the ants trim horizontal branches.
Quinine - totally changed the course of history. National tree of Peru and Ecuador, tall and beautiful, 20 species. South America was the only continent with no malaria -- and the only place where there was a cure. Alkaloid compounds in the bark make our blood poisonous to the malaria parasite. The Quechua natives used it as a medicine for other things and the Spanish and Jesuits found it both treated and prevented malaria. Up to half of colonists in the tropics died of malaria, so this discovery enabled colonialism to proceed in Africa, India, and America. Smuggling the tree out was prevented for a long time but it made it to Asia and remained of vital strategic importance even in WWII; when Japan captured Java the US had to import hundreds of tons from Peru, and still some troops were taken offline for lack of quinine. The British in India took it daily as powder mixed with water to create 'tonic water', using gin, lemon, and sugar to mask the bitterness. Today's tonic water has less but still enough to glow under a black light.
Some of my favorite notes, as a sample (of course the actual essays are much more eloquent):
Cork oak - Cork outer bark evolved as fire protection (and fungi and microbe); its insulation is so good that it’s been used on the space shuttle fuel tanks. Roman women liked cork sandals. No other untreated naturally occurring plant product is as inert in contact with so many substances. Perfect for bottle stopping not just because of the inertness and springiness, but also because when cut, air gaps are exposed and act like little microscopic suction cups against the glass. Greek and Egyptian amphorae had cork plugs, but the monk Dom Perignon himself was the one to popularize it for wine. Cork is the outer bark and can be harvested up to 8 feet up and once a decade after the tree is 20 yrs old, in May-June when it separates easily in semicircular sections (with help from a skilled axeman who can cut to the right depth: not too deep to cut inner bark, but not gentle strokes that will bounce off). The inner bark exposed around the trunk bottom turns deep red after a few weeks. And the trees are part of a managed ecosystem where their acorns feed livestock, especially pigs, and that supports wild lynx, eagles, and more. This system is great and is threatened by artificial corks, so buy wine with real cork.
Coco-de-mer - world’s largest seeds, shaped like a woman’s pelvis, a giant 65lb double coconut. Would float and rarely be discovered, thought an aphrodisiac, treasured and worth the equivalent of $70k in the 1750s until they were found to grow in the Seychelles and the market was flooded. Can grow 100 feet tall and 800 years, and the giant seeds probably evolved alongside megafauna like dinosaurs before the Seychelles split off from India and island gigantism grew them further. To not compete with their mother tree, a seed burrows a shoot 12 feet laterally from where it falls, and only then sprouts upward, still drawing nutrients from the seed.
Alder - rare among trees, it has a relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria in root nodules (up to apple sized) that lets it live in waterlogged, infertile soil. Once cut, moist alder wood rots quickly if exposed to air, but if kept underwater, it won’t. So the engineers of Venice built their city on it - 9 piles driven per square meter, with the tops still below the low tide mark (walling off and draining small areas bit by bit to drive the piles). Rialto bridge is built on it - most of Venice is, except for some larger buildings which needed oak. Also, alder made the best charcoal, making for more powerful and consistent gunpowder for cannons and mines, helping Venice rise as a military power. By the end of the 1300s, the foundry or ‘getto’ neighborhood (later to become the Jewish quarter) had some of the world’s best smelters, fired by alder charcoal. Venice could turn out one fully fitted warship per day.
Laurel / Bay - the source of bay leaves - at least the European ones - is also the laurel. Associated with purity from the myth of Daphne being turned into a laurel to escape from Apollo’s lust (and Apollo thereafter wearing a laurel crown), returning Greek generals would wear laurel to purify them after bloodshed. Over time through Greece and Rome they became associated with victory and achievement in general, leading to the words baccalaureate, laureate, and bachelor’s.
Whistling thorn - small tree in Kenya with thorns with bulbous hollow bases with holes in them so the tree whistles in the wind, possibly an evolved defense. Each thorn bulb is home to biting ants that drink nectar and swarm to protect the tree from herbivores. If the tree grows too close to another held by a rival colony, the two will fight, so the ants trim horizontal branches.
Quinine - totally changed the course of history. National tree of Peru and Ecuador, tall and beautiful, 20 species. South America was the only continent with no malaria -- and the only place where there was a cure. Alkaloid compounds in the bark make our blood poisonous to the malaria parasite. The Quechua natives used it as a medicine for other things and the Spanish and Jesuits found it both treated and prevented malaria. Up to half of colonists in the tropics died of malaria, so this discovery enabled colonialism to proceed in Africa, India, and America. Smuggling the tree out was prevented for a long time but it made it to Asia and remained of vital strategic importance even in WWII; when Japan captured Java the US had to import hundreds of tons from Peru, and still some troops were taken offline for lack of quinine. The British in India took it daily as powder mixed with water to create 'tonic water', using gin, lemon, and sugar to mask the bitterness. Today's tonic water has less but still enough to glow under a black light.
chchchazley's review against another edition
5.0
Full of beautiful and precise illustrations and succinctly well-written, I'd recommend this book for anyone who loves plants, history, or lots of amazing facts.
akooda7's review against another edition
5.0
The author introduced me to a whole new area of books that I’m excited to read. This book was well written and the illustrations are endearing. Such a great mix of culture, history and science. I’ve been to many botanical and royal gardens in the U.S. and Europe plus Hawaii. I’ve also taken arborist courses. This book has it all and describes the different species in a reminiscent way alongside wonderful images.
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
5.0
I was so privileged to receive a reading copy of this from Laurence King Publishing, and it even came with a beautiful poster.
Everything else I was reading had to be put on hold until I had finished this, though I could have dipped in and out of it as the book is written in episode like chapters following the author around the world. Each chapter describes a different tree and has such brilliant illustrations by Lucille Clerc.
Each chapter explores the historical and cultural aspects of each tree, even going into local mythololgy concerning the tree, clearly explaining its roles and how it is being impacted by climate change, the trees interactions with humans is always at the forefront, showing the uses that it has been put to and how it was viewed by the indiginous people.
I absolutely loved this book, the episodic nature, the writing that shows an obvious love of trees and nature, the stunning illustrations all add up to one of the best nature books I’ve read for a very long time and means that this book will be a keeper on my shelf.
Everything else I was reading had to be put on hold until I had finished this, though I could have dipped in and out of it as the book is written in episode like chapters following the author around the world. Each chapter describes a different tree and has such brilliant illustrations by Lucille Clerc.
Each chapter explores the historical and cultural aspects of each tree, even going into local mythololgy concerning the tree, clearly explaining its roles and how it is being impacted by climate change, the trees interactions with humans is always at the forefront, showing the uses that it has been put to and how it was viewed by the indiginous people.
I absolutely loved this book, the episodic nature, the writing that shows an obvious love of trees and nature, the stunning illustrations all add up to one of the best nature books I’ve read for a very long time and means that this book will be a keeper on my shelf.