One of the world's first tree-top scientists, Meg Lowman is both a pioneer in her field - she invented one of the first treetop walkways - and a tireless advocate for the planet. In a voice as infectious in its enthusiasm as in its practical optimism, The Arbornaut chronicles her irresistible story. From climbing solo hundreds of feet into Australia's rainforests to measuring tree growth in the northeastern United States, from searching the redwoods of the Pacific coast for new life to studying leaf-eaters in Scotland's Highlands, from a bioblitz in Malaysia to conservation planning in India to collaborating with priests in Ethiopia's last forests, Lowman launches us into the life and work of a scientist and ecologist. She also offers hope, specific plans and recommendations for action; despite devastation across the world, we can still make an immediate and lasting impact against climate change.

The flora of the Indian subcontinent has stirred European curiosity and investigation for over two millennia. From pepper, a coveted commodity of the lucrative spice trade, to rhododendrons, orchids, and alpine flowers, cherished in innumerable British gardens and conservatories, Indian plants have long been highly prized in the West. This book surveys European perceptions of the diversity of the Indian flora, and examines its impact on European commerce and culture including botany, horticulture, and floral art. It chronicles the growing European awareness of the Indian flora from the first glimmerings of knowledge in the fifth century BC to the demise in the mid-nineteenth century of the British East India Company and of its successor, the India Office. An epilogue briefly surveys the development of botanical studies since the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. The evolution of European-style gardens in India is examined, and the impact of the Indian flora on British gardens is assessed.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the marvellous and varied world of trees, and a fascinating introduction to the hidden secrets of 52 British species. Botanist and ecologist Ros Bennett has spent a lifetime helping people understand and identify plants and always hoped her daughter Nell would grow up to share her love of the natural world. During Nell's childhood years they spent much time exploring the local woods together. Here, Nell discovered the visual and tactile beauty of trees. In Tree-spotting, Ros and Nell have combined their backgrounds and talents to show you - through Ros's extensive experience and Nell's exquisite illustrations - how to identify 52 British trees simply and confidently. A beautiful and captivating insight into the wonderful world of trees, Tree-spotting burrows down into the history and hidden secrets of each species. It explores how our relationship with trees can be very personal, and will bring you closer to the natural world around you.

'It has been hand-planted by Tsarinas and felled by foresters. It has been celebrated by peasants, worshipped by pagans and painted by artists. It has self-seeded across mountains and rivers and train tracks and steppe and right through the ruined modernity of a nuclear fall-out site. And like all symbols, the story of the birch has its share of horrors (white, straight, native, pure: how could it not?). But, maybe in the end, what I'm really in search of is a birch that means nothing: stripped of symbolism, bereft of use-value . . . A birch that is simply a tree in a land that couldn't give a shit.' The birch, genus Betula, is one of the northern hemisphere's most widespread and easily recognisable trees. A pioneer species, the birch is also Russia's unofficial national emblem, and in The White Birch art critic Tom Jeffreys sets out to grapple with the riddle of Russianness through numerous journeys, encounters, histories and artworks that all share one thing in common: the humble birch tree. We visit Catherine the Great's garden follies and Tolstoy's favourite chair; walk through the Chernobyl exclusion zone and among overgrown concrete bunkers in Vladivostok; explore the world of online Russian brides and spend a drunken night in Moscow with art-activists Pussy Riot, all the time questioning the role played by Russia's vastly diverse landscapes in forming and imposing national identity. And vice-versa: how has Russia's dramatically shifting self-image informed the way its people think about nature, land and belonging? Curious, resonant and idiosyncratic, The White Birch is a unique collection of journeys into Russia and among Russian people.

Making a haven for wildlife doesn’t require acres of land in the countryside. If you get the habitat and planting right, then even the tiniest of urban gardens can host a variety of creatures from birds and bees to hedgehogs. Covering everything from going organic to making a pond and turning your green space into a wildlife haven – this book is for gardeners who want to apply a more holistic approach to gardening and create their own urban sanctuary. Through a collection of simple projects that can be easily adapted for a variety of gardens and planting guides, this book will help you to re-connect with natural world on your own doorstep. Jane Moore will draw on her 16 years of experience of creating an urban sanctuary in the heart of the city as she lays out the simple ways in which you can approach making even the smallest patch of land a haven for wildlife, great or small.

This fifth volume of the Flora of Florida collection continues the definitive and comprehensive identification manual to the Sunshine State's 4,000 kinds of native and non-native ferns and fern allies, nonflowering seed plants, and flowering seed plants. Volume V contains the taxonomic treatments of 34 families of Florida's dicotyledons. Florida has the third most diverse vascular plant flora of any state in the United States, and the Flora of Florida volumes include all indigenous and naturalized taxa currently known to occur within its borders. With keys to family, genus, and species, and with families arranged alphabetically for easy reference, these volumes are the standard reference for botanists, researchers, consultants, and students alike.

A visually stunning journey into the diversity and wonders of forests.

In his international bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben opened readers’ eyes to the amazing processes at work in forests every day. Now this new, breathtakingly illustrated edition brings those wonders to life like never before.

With compelling selections from the original book and stunning, large-format photographs of trees from around the world, this gorgeous volume distills the essence of Wohlleben’s message to show trees in all their glory and diversity. Through rich language highlighting the interconnectedness of forest ecosystems, the book offers fascinating insights about the fungal communication highway known as the “wood wide web,” the difficult life lessons learned in tree school, the hard-working natural cleanup crews that recycle dying trees, and much more. Beautiful images provide the perfect complement to Wohlleben’s words, with striking close-ups of bark and seeds, panoramas of vast expanses of green, and a unique look at what is believed to be the oldest tree on the planet.

The Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar have remained scientifically poorly known despite their critical importance in understanding the early evolutionary history of the family. This scientific review gives a bird's eye view of the morphological and anatomical diversity of the family in Africa and Madagascar. The book is aimed at helping botanists, ecologists and conservationists to identify the remarkable African members of the family. It will hopefully also inspire the younger generation of botanists to expand our knowledge of the family. It is likely that more exciting discoveries still await us. The book provides an introduction to the structural diversity in the family and gives the correct botanical terminology - especially for the interesting fruits (schizocarps) that are typical of the family. Descriptions and illustrations for all 77 genera and 368 known species are provided, as well as a key to the genera. Introductory chapters focus on habit (growth form) and roots, leaves, synflorescences, flowers, fruits, chromosome numbers, pollinators, chemistry, plant uses, and phylogenetic relationships of African Apiaceae. Includes a checklist of the Apiaceae of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar as well as an extensive list of references.

In North America, Juniperus woodlands occupy approximately 55 million hectares, an area larger than the state of Texas. This title addresses various aspects of the biology, ecology, and management of Juniperus woodlands and savannas, synthesizing past and current research findings as well as proposed research. The book provides ecologists, land managers, and foresters with a solid foundation in Juniperus ecosystems, enabling them to manage the communities for maximum sustained productivity and diversity.

This extensively illustrated volume is an indispensable identification guide to nearly 1,400 species of plants, both common and rare, found in Florida and neighboring coastal states. It contains frequently occurring wildflowers, shrubs, and herbaceous plants from the region, and includes select grasses, rushes, and trees. For each species, the book features a carefully rendered illustration, the plant's vernacular and scientific names along with synonyms that have been used to refer to it, and a short description that includes the plant's habitat, range, frequency, flowering times, and origin. Reflecting recent changes in classification by using the most current names and taxonomies, this second edition arranges plant families according to their relationship with each other in a user-friendly system. It is also updated with over 200 new illustrations. The book is an ideal resource for both experienced gardeners and beginners, and its images can serve as a useful supplement to text-based references for professionals. As home landscapers and horticulture experts turn their attention to the benefits of cultivating native plants, this book provides vital information on the sources of species Florida residents might encounter, helping readers navigate the diverse and continually increasing flora of the state.

Fungi are eternally mysterious and truly unique. The Deck of Mushrooms is your essential introduction to some of the world's most interesting fungi. From the delicious Shiitake and the deadly Death Cap, to mushrooms of the magical variety and bioluminescent beauties, The Deck of Mushrooms features 52 beautiful cards to guide you through this fascinating world. This deck features 50 different fungi - learn about their appearance, where and when they grow and all of their uses as you become a budding expert in mycology.

When Joe Hutto began his experiment in imprinting two dozen wild turkey-in the tradition of the great animal behaviorist, Konrad Lorenz-he had no idea that it would change his life. Told with skill and humor, and vibrating with the natural wonders of the Florida flatwoods, Illumination in the Flatwoods will amaze and enrich all who share this season with the wild turkey.

This new book by Sierra expert Elizabeth Wenk includes photos and descriptions of approximately 300 species of wildflowers and flowering shrubs in the High Sierra. Focused on areas above 8,000 feet in elevation from Yosemite south through the Whitney Region, by restricting the collection of species to higher elevations, the book can include all commonly seen species and nearly half of all higher elevation species in a compact guide. Make plant identification more approachable to hikers, this book differentiates between species using features easily identifiable to a non-botanist. Descriptions include the species' common and scientific names, family name, growth form, flowering time, elevation range, region, specific locations on popular trails, and how to identify the plant using color, petal number, leaf shape, height, and more.

At the very end of the road is a six-bar metal gate. It is chained and padlocked and marks the exact line where the tarmac stops. Beyond that is a track, twelve pasture and hay fields, and an area of saltmarsh, bounded on one side by a river and on the other by vast tidal mudflats. Deep in the west of England, this is a place sculpted by the wind and painted by the tides. It is a place full of wildlife. This immersive and carefully crafted book of place explores the impact of season and tides and weather upon this land at the edge through a series of literary pictures crafted through lyrical imaginative language. The author attempts what few, if any, have tried to do, namely to render meticulous observations of the intimate details of wildlife and landscape to depict a place as faithfully and transparently as possible. This is a bold book, one that tries to capture the elusive soul of a place; a daring examination of both what makes a place and how it is remade daily through the interactions between landscape and observer. It is also radical for its approach challenges the current orthodoxy of nature writing that in order to supply a connection between author, subject, and reader, some sort of narrative framework of human emotion is required to provide it with a rationale. So, although the prose is subjective, the book is framed in such a way as to remove the author's presence almost completely. There is no story save that of the eternal change of the seasons, no narrative connection, no focus on a single species, no discussion or allusion to the environmental issues of our age, no characters. Indeed, there is barely any mention of people at all. Although it rarely tries to explain or educate, it simply places observations at centre stage. Yet in trying to unearth what it is precisely that constructs our relationship with place, the author has, paradoxically, produced one of the most deeply personal and unusual nature books.

"Celebrates the power of trees to oxygenate the planet, purify water and air, lower city temperatures, provide habitat, nurture the soul, and provide essential food sources." --Booklist Trees and forests are the number one nature-based solution for revers ing the negative effects of a changing climate. If ever there was a time to be planting trees, that time is now. Inspired by a collective sense of urgency, a global movement to plant trees is gaining momentum. To move the needle, we need to act on a massive scale and plant millions of trees today to have a measurable and lasting impact on billions of lives tomorrow. In Now Is the Time for Trees, the experts at the Arbor Day Foundation will inspire you to do your part by showing you everything you need to know to plant trees at home or in your community. From advice on choosing the right size and type of tree to tried-and-true tips for planting success, this book will help you plant a tree today and leave your own legacy of hope. Equal parts inspiration and advocacy, Now Is the Time for Trees is a rousing call for environmental action and a must-have book for nature lovers everywhere.

An exploration of the anthropogenic landscapes of Lucca, Italy, and how its people understand social and environmental change through cultivation In Italy and around the Mediterranean, almost every stone, every tree, and every hillside show traces of human activities. Situating climate change within the context of the Anthropocene, Andrew Mathews investigates how people in Lucca, Italy, make sense of social and environmental change by caring for the morphologies of trees and landscapes. He analyzes how people encounter climate change, not by thinking and talking about climate, but by caring for the environments around them. Maintaining landscape stability by caring for the forms of trees, rivers, and hillsides is a way that people link their experiences to the past and to larger scale political questions. The human-transformed landscapes of Italy are a harbinger of the experiences that all of us are likely to face, and addressing these disasters will call upon all of us to think about the human and natural histories of the landscapes we live in.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

The Trees of San Francisco introduces readers to the rich variety of trees that thrive in San Francisco's unique conditions. San Francisco's cool Mediterranean climate has made it home to interesting and unusual trees from all over the world - trees as colorful and exotic as the city itself. This new guide combines engaging descriptions of sixty-five different trees with color photos that reflect the visual appeal of San Francisco. Each page covers a different tree, with several paragraphs of interesting text accompanied by one or two photos. Each entry for a tree also lists locations where "landmark" specimens of the tree can be found. Interspersed throughout the book are sidebar stories of general interest related to San Francisco's trees. The Trees of San Francisco also includes a dozen tree tours that will link landmark trees and local attractions in interesting San Francisco neighborhoods such as the Castro, Pacific Heights and the Mission - walks that will appeal to tourists as well as Bay Area natives.

Forests are restless. When a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it shifts. When new trees sprout in the same direction, the whole forest begins to migrate, sometimes at astonishing rates. Today, however, an array of obstacles-humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade-threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before and forests are struggling to keep up. A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing, The Journeys of Trees explores the evolving movements of forests by focusing on five trees: giant sequoia, ash, black spruce, Florida torreya and Monterey pine. Zach St George visits these trees in forests across continents, finding sequoias losing their needles in California, fossil records showing the paths of ancient forests in Alaska, domesticated pines in New Zealand and new sprouts of blight-resistant American chestnuts in New Hampshire. Everywhere he goes, St George meets lively people on conservation's front lines, from an ecologist studying droughts to an evolutionary evangelist with plans to save a dying species. He treks through the woods with activists, biologists and foresters, each with their own role to play in the fight for the uncertain future of our environment. An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present, The Journeys of Trees examines how we can all help our trees, and our planet, survive and thrive.

Trees have starred in stories ever since Ovid described the nymph Daphne's metamorphosis into a laurel, and the landscape of literature has long been enlivened by wild woodlands, sacred groves, and fertile orchards. This delightful collection ranges from Ovid to Austen and from Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest (via Thomas Love Peacock's Maid Marian) to Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'. Here are forest-haunted fairy tales both classic (the Brothers Grimm) and inventively retold (Angela Carter). There is room in these woods for comedy as well as terror, in Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm, and Alexander McCall Smith's 'Head Tree'. Notable writers from around the world contribute arboreal fiction-from South Africa, Finland, France, Zimbabwe, Russia, Martinique, and India, as well as Britain, Ireland, Canada and America. From Daphne du Maurier's 'The Apple Tree' to R. K. Narayan's 'Under the Banyan Tree', the sheer range of stories in these pages will leave readers refreshed and dazzled.

A Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year

The magic and mystery of the woods are embedded in culture, from ancient folklore to modern literature. They offer us refuge: a place to play, a place to think. They are the generous providers of timber and energy. They let us dream of other ways of living. Yet we now face a future where taking a walk in the woods is consigned to the tales we tell our children.

Immersing himself in the beauty of woodland Britain, Peter Fiennes explores our long relationship with the woods and the sad and violent story of how so many have been lost. Just as we need them, our woods need us too. But who, if anyone, is looking out for them?

Wherever there is greenery, photosynthesis is working to make oxygen, release energy, and create living matter from the raw material of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Without photosynthesis, there would be an empty world, an empty sky, and a sun that does nothing more than warm the rocks and reflect off the sea.

Eating the Sun is the story of a world in crisis; an appreciation of the importance of plants; a history of the earth and the feuds and fantasies of warring scientists; a celebration of how the smallest things, enzymes and pigments, influence the largest things, the oceans, the rainforests, and the fossil fuel economy. Oliver Morton offers a fascinating, lively, profound look at nature's greatest miracle and sounds a much-needed call to arms--illuminating a potential crisis of climatic chaos and explaining how we can change our situation, for better or for worse.