From the reviews:

"Serre's notes on groups acting on trees have appeared in various forms (all in French) over the past ten years and they have had a profound influence on the development of many areas, for example, the theory of ends of discrete groups. This fine translation is very welcome and I strongly recommend it as an introduction to an important subject. In Chapter I, which is self-contained, the pace is fairly gentle. The author proves the fundamental theorem for the special cases of free groups and tree products before dealing with the (rather difficult) proof of the general case." (A.W. Mason in Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society 1982)

The yew is one of the most fascinating and versatile life forms on Earth, botanically rich and intriguing, and culturally almost without comparison. In history, mythology, religion, folklore, medicine and warfare, this tree bears timeless witness to a deep relationship with mankind. Yew was the wood chosen to make some of mankind's oldest artefacts: spears, bows and musical instruments. These include items like the prehistoric spear found near Clacton, the 2,000-year-old wooden pipes from Greystones, County Wicklow and, of course, the famous medieval English longbow. In modern medicine, too, yew has proved a boon. Since 1992 taxol/paclitaxel has helped revolutionise the treatment of certain types of cancer. In botanical terms, yew is a mass of contradictions. It is a conifer which bears scarlet 'berries' with sweet juicy pulp instead of cones. It is highly poisonous in all its parts except the red fruit pulp, and yet both wild and domesticated animals feed upon it. It can live for thousands of years with the potential to renew itself. A new tree from an interior root can grow slowly within the hollow trunk of an ancient yew and centuries later 'take over' the older tree. When it come to habitat, the yew tree is nothing if not versatile. It can grown on different continents at a wide range of altitudes: from rainy Edinburgh to sultry Istanbul, from Canada to Mexico, Scandinavia to North Africa and Sumatra, Japan and the Himalayas. Fred Hageneder's fascinating book is the first to cover all aspects of the botany as well as the cultural history and mythology of the genus Taxus. This is the remarkable story of the oldest living things in Europe.

'Trees are wildlife just as deer or primroses are wildlife. Each species has its own agenda and its own interactions with human activities ...' Written by one of Britain's best-known naturalists, Woodlands offers a fascinating new insight into the trees of the British landscape that have filled us with awe and inspiration throughout the centuries. Looking at such diverse evidence as the woods used in buildings and ships, and how woodland has been portrayed in pictures and photographs, Rackham traces British woodland through the ages, from the evolution of wildwood, through man's effect on the landscape, modern forestry and its legacy, and recent conservation efforts and their effects. In his lively and thoroughly engaging style, Rackham explores woodlands and their history, through names, surveys, mapping and legal documents, archaeology, photographs and works of art, thus offering an utterly compelling insight into British woodlands and how they have come to shape a national obsession.

Ireland's wild plants have been part of our culture and folklore from the earliest times, featuring in the Brehon Laws, early Irish poetry and herbal medicine. Plants are described in seasonal order and different aspects are examined: their roles in magical protection, charms and spells, emblems in children's games, Irish place names and folklore. This beautifully illustrated and comprehensive compilation of natural history, mythology and folklore will entertain and enlighten all interested in the wild plants of Ireland.

Vermont's state tree, the Sugar Maple, is one of several species of deciduous trees responsible for the spectacular fall foliage displays the state is famous for. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers and also includes an ecoregion map featuring prominent botanical sanctuaries. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.

The Great Smoky Mountains, which is part of an International Biosphere Reserve and contains nearly 200,000 acres of old growth forest. The extraordinary mosaic of life zones -- including the world's finest example of a temperate deciduous forest -- supports an estimated 5,600 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs including more than 1,600 species of flowering plants. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.

The glorious colours and the diversity of shapes of Alpine plants delight every alpinist and hiker. Those who take time to look closer at the plants and their dwellings will be rewarded with the discovery of the interesting relationships between plants and their environment, and will enjoy their ever varying appearance and multitude of forms. This SAC guidebook helps the reader to understand the diverse aspects of plant life in the Alps. It also answers questions such as: which faraway lands the Alpine plants come from? Why is the plant cover near Zermatt different from that high up at the foot of the Eiger? How do some Alpine plants still manage to grow above 12.000 ft, when others do not even reach the treeline? To help the recognition of species, the book has 480 colour photographs, mostly taken in their natural invironment. In addition, about 75 species are presented in ink drawings. A practical fieldguide for amateur botanists, it is also an important reference work for all those with an interest in alpine plants as well as for students.

Eddy V AN DER MAAREL This volume is the first of two volumes covering the Sym computer programmes for the rapid clustering and ordina posium 'Advances in vegetation science', which was held at tion of very large sets of reI eves and for (subsequent) table Nijmegen, The Netherlands, from 15-19 May 1979. This rearrangement (this volume as well as the book Data symposium was organized on behalf of the Working Group Processing in Phytosociology contain various new pro for Data-Processing of the International Society for Vege grams). What we do not have is a manual in which the tation Science. After this group held its final meeting two apparently successful methods are compared and applied years earlier it decided to continue its activities, but within a to some data-sets. H. Lieth, editor-in-chief of a new Junk wider scope. Most members of the Group felt that the series 'Tasks for vegetation science' already suggested to original aim, i. e. the introduction of data-processing and produce such a manual in this series. multivariate methods for use in the systematic description The present volume contains the texts of the lectures and of plant communities, was more or less fulfilled. The book most of the poster demonstrations of the first three sessions Data -Processing in Phytosociology, largely based on papers of the Symposium, dealing with classification and ordina in Vegetatio, edited by E. van der Maarel, L. Orloci & S."

This guide features nearly 300 of the common plants of the Sonoran Desert. Detailed descriptions, information about bloom season and range, and interesting facts about each plant accompany the full-color photographs.

Leonardo da Vinci once mused that "we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot," an observation that is as apt today as it was five hundred years ago. The biological world under our toes is often unexplored and unappreciated, yet it teems with life. In one square meter of earth, there live trillions of bacteria, millions of nematodes, hundreds of thousands of mites, thousands of insects and worms, and hundreds of snails and slugs. But because of their location and size, many of these creatures are as unfamiliar and bizarre to us as anything found at the bottom of the ocean. Lavishly illustrated with nearly three hundred color illustrations and masterfully rendered black-and-white drawings throughout, "Life in the Soil" invites naturalists and gardeners alike to dig in and discover the diverse community of creatures living in the dirt below us. Biologist and acclaimed natural history artist James B. Nardi begins with an introduction to soil ecosystems, revealing the unseen labors of underground organisms maintaining the rich fertility of the earth as they recycle nutrients between the living and mineral worlds. He then introduces readers to a dazzling array of creatures: wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with 120 rows of teeth, and 10,000-year-old fungi, among others. Organized by taxon, "Life in the Soil" covers everything from slime molds and roundworms to woodlice and dung beetles, as well as vertebrates from salamanders to shrews. The book ultimately explores the crucial role of soil ecosystems in conserving the worlds above and below ground. A unique and illustrative introduction to the many unheralded creatures that inhabit our soils and shape our environment above-ground, "Life in the Soil" will inform and enrich the naturalist in all of us.

The Arctic Guide presents the traveler and naturalist with a portable, authoritative guide to the flora and fauna of earth's northernmost region. Featuring superb color illustrations, this one-of-a-kind book covers the complete spectrum of wildlife--more than 800 species of plants, fishes, butterflies, birds, and mammals--that inhabit the Arctic's polar deserts, tundra, taiga, sea ice, and oceans. It can be used anywhere in the entire Holarctic region, including Norway's Svalbard archipelago, Siberia, the Russian Far East, islands of the Bering Sea, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, size, habitat, range, scientific name, and the unique characteristics that enable these organisms to survive in the extreme conditions of the Far North. A color distribution map accompanies each species account, and alternative names in German, French, Norwegian, Russian, Inuit, and Inupiaq are also provided. * Features superb color plates that allow for quick identification of more than 800 species of plants, fishes, butterflies, birds, and mammals * Includes detailed species accounts and color distribution maps * Covers the flora and fauna of the entire Arctic region

RHS Genealogy for Gardeners is part of the bestselling series that includes RHS Latin for Gardeners and RHS Botany for Gardeners. This informative, easy-to-understand and beautifully designed reference book explores plant families and the plant family tree in unparalleled detail. From roses (Rosaceae) to rhubarb (Polygonaceae) and carrots (Apiaceae) to camellias (Theaceae), RHS Genealogy for Gardeners unlocks a wealth of practical information, helping you to identify, select and cultivate plants from over 70 families most familiar to gardeners. Along with details about the size, range, origin and appearance of each family, feature boxes highlight interesting facts and provide useful growing tips. Whether you are a gardener, horticultural student, budding botanist or plant enthusiast, RHS Genealogy for Gardeners will help you understand and appreciate the extraordinary diversity and unrivalled splendour of the plant kingdom.

Plan your landscape or garden with more than 100 native plants that benefit Northeastern birds, bees, and butterflies. The presence of birds, bees, and butterflies suggests a healthy, earth-friendly place. These most welcome guests also bring joy to those who appreciate watching them. Now, you can turn your yard into a perfect habitat that attracts them and, more importantly, helps them thrive. Acclaimed author and expert entomologist Jaret C. Daniels provides all the information you need in this must-have guide for Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Learn how to landscape and create pollinator gardens with native plants. The book begins with an in-depth introduction to native pollinators and to birds. It's followed by a "field guide" section to more than 100 native plants that are widely available to utilize, are easy to care for, and provide great benefit to birds, bees, and butterflies. The species are organized by level of sunlight needed and then by plant types. Each species includes full-color photographs and information about hardiness zones, what they are most likely to attract, soil requirements, light levels, and Jaret's notes. As an added bonus, you'll make use of blooming charts, tips on attracting specific species, and more! Plus, the invaluable garden plans and projects show you just what to do and can be customized to suit your own specific interests. Plan, plant, and grow your beautiful garden, with native plants that benefit your favorite creatures to watch and enjoy.

Beech, birch, ash, sycamore, oak. Maple, mango, hawthorn, cherry. Scots pine and Japanese cedar . . . The company of trees is different from that of any other living thing. This is a story of the humans who love trees. From tree sitters to nature lawyers, from climbers to climate strikers, from planters to pruners, from forest therapists to trauma survivors, from city gardeners to rewilders. These are voices of passion, sorrow, anger, nurture, solace and wonder. Trees are our past and our present - our future, too. FOR THE LOVE OF TREES is about why trees matter and what we owe them. It's about our humanity, our devotion and our sheer awe.

This wide-ranging and lavish book, substantially updated for this new large-format edition, presents an expert survey of the incredible floral diversity of the different regions of the world. More than 1730 species are featured, arranged according to region and then by plant family. The key features of each main entry are described to help identify the species, and each entry is illustrated with a botanically accurate profile of the plant, together with identifying details and a map showing where the species originated. With 3800 specially commissioned paintings, maps and photographs, this beautifully illustrated guide to the wild flowers and flora of the world is a must-have volume for every naturalist.

No matter where you look in Australia, you're more than likely to see a eucalyptus tree. Scrawny or majestic, smooth as pearl or rough as a pub brawl, they have defined a continent for thousands of years, and they continue to shape our imagination. First Nations Australians have long known the abilities of the eucalyptus. And as part of the raft of changes wrought by the arrival of colonial Australia, botanists have battled in a race to count, classify and own the species - a battle that has lasted more than two hundred years. Gum: The Story of Eucalypts and Their Champions is the story of that battle and of so many other eucalyptographers - explorers, poets, painters, foresters, conservationists, scientists (and engine drivers) - who have also been obsessed by these trees and who have championed their powers. Gum trees have been feted as a cure for malaria, as a solution for the drainage problems that defeated the Roman emperors, as the tree that could forest the Sahara, the tree that could divine gold. This new edition of Gum, from award-winning author Ashley Hay, is a powerful and lyrical exploration of these magical, mythical, medicinal trees, and the story of new worlds, curious people and big ideas.

Eucalyptus, a genus of over 800 species, is a multiproduct crop par excellence. Not only is it grown for timber, pulp and fuelwood, but, as the Aborigines discovered thousands of years ago, it has numerous medicinal and aromatic properties. Since the first commercial distillation of eucalyptus oil 150 years ago, a vast array of eucalyptus-based products has entered the marketplace, mainly for pharmaceutical, fragrance and flavor use. Eucalyptus provides an invaluable reference for all those with an interest in Eucalyptus - in academia and industry alike, for researchers as well as producers, processors, importers and end users - but there are also issues discussed and lessons learned that extend to medicinal and aromatic plants.

Plant life in Big Bend National Park is incredibly diverse. The wide range of habitats within the park - desert, foothills, mountains and moist woodlands, river canyons and floodplain - as well as the Big Bends three major blooming seasons of spring, summer, and fall - guarantee a stunning show of botanical variety throughout the year. ""Little Big Bend"" is not a traditional guide to the areas common plants. Although it features many species that are characteristic of the Chihuahuan Desert environment, species such as orchids are also included precisely because they are uncommon or rare and therefore a special thrill to find. Plants not seen in other wildflower guides, or those with a limited geographic range that the reader will less likely encounter elsewhere, are pictured here. This guide describes 109 species found in the United States only in Trans-Pecos Texas; 62 of these occur only in the Big Bend portion of the Trans-Pecos, and 24 of them only within Big Bend National Park. Of the 252 featured species, 71 are considered sensitive plants; in Texas, 28 are classified as critically imperiled, 18 as imperiled, and 25 as vulnerable. The emphasis of this book is on the little in the Big Bend, the overlooked small plants or inconspicuous tiny flowers of larger plants that so often go unnoticed. In a landscape so immense, these plants may be right before our eyes but seldom seen, or they may be tucked away and quite difficult to find. Here, in glowing photographs and insightful text, Roy Morey has brought them to light.

The state flower, the Prairie rose, is one of thousands of species of plants growing in the diverse ecosystems found throughout Iowa. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers and also includes a map featuring prominent botanical sanctuaries. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.

The "Land of Enchantment" lives up to its name during wildflower season. The state flower, the yucca, is one of thousands of species of plants growing in the diverse ecosystems found throughout the state. This beautifully illustrated guide highlights over 140 familiar and unique species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers and also includes a map featuring prominent botanical sanctuaries. Laminated for durability, this lightweight, pocket-sized folding guide is an excellent source of portable information and ideal for field use by visitors and residents alike. Made in the USA.

Features almost 300 colour photographs and brings together more than 60 years of research by a leading voice in British woodland ecology. Trees define woodland. They provide a complex, multi-layered habitat for a great range of wildlife, but they are also wildlife themselves, reacting to their circumstances and each other. Woodlands are important to people, supplying timber, food and fuel, accumulating carbon, and offering places of refuge and refreshment. But they are also under threat: some stand in the way of 'progress', and all are becoming increasingly vulnerable to disease and climate change. In Trees and Woodlands, George Peterken brings together decades of scientific research, while also incorporating his personal experiences, to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider cultural value of our native trees and shrubs, and the various ways they have combined as woodland. Peterken accepts that all woodlands have been shaped by people as well as nature, and he describes the long history of use and management and how this has influenced woodland wildlife. Woodlands have also contributed to our art, beliefs and social attitudes, and this too is examined. He concludes by asking, what next for Britain's trees and woodlands? He advocates woods being managed and their timber and small wood being put to good use, but recognises that this is all part of a larger question: the future of ourselves. Containing nearly 300 photographs, and interspersed with box texts describing the history and ecology of representative woods across Britain, this is a commentary on trees, woodlands and our relationship with them from one of our most highly regarded forest ecologists.

From ash die-back to the Great Storm of 1987 to Dutch elm disease, our much-loved woodlands seem to be under constant threat from a procession of natural challenges. Just when we need trees most, to help combat global warming and to provide places of retreat for us and our wildlife, they seem at greatest peril. But these dangers force us to reconsider the narrative we construct about trees and the roles we press on them. In this now classic book, Richard Mabey looks at how, for more than a thousand years, we have appropriated and humanised trees, turning them into arboreal pets, status symbols, expressions of fashionable beauty - anything rather than allow them lives of their own. And in the poetic and provocative style he has made his signature, Mabey argues that respecting trees' independence and ancient powers of survival may be the wisest response to their current crises. Originally published with the title Beechcombings, this updated edition includes a new foreword and afterword by the author.

America's prairies are home to some of the most abundant and beautiful wildflowers in the country. Now, with Prairie Wildflowers, readers will be able to locate and identify the many gorgeous flowering species blooming in America's heartland. Prairie Wildflowers contains detailed, full-color photographs and concise descriptions of over 350 of these wildflowers. Written by a wildflower expert for the casual wildflower observer, Prairie Wildflowers is organized by color for easy access out on the trail and includes information on blooming season and range as well as a glossary of terms and a reference section. As a spiritual successor to Falcon's long-beloved Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, this new book will become the definitive guide to the many varieties of wildflowers flourishing between Chicago and Denver.

In a world of constant change and crisis, the relationship between humans and their environment has never been more vital. Louisiana Herb Journal invites readers into the world of medicinal herbs, introducing fifty herbs found in Louisiana, with details on identification, habitat, distribution, healing properties, and traditional uses, including instruction on traditional preparation methods such as tinctures and teas. Interspersed with these practical details, herbalist Corinne Martin shares stories that foster a true connection between readers and the world around them, from tales of childhood cherry picking to harvest mishaps to folklife traditions passed down through the generations. Accessible to experienced and rookie herbalists alike, Louisiana Herb Journal offers a new way of looking at the natural world, getting to know one's "home ground" through a lens of healing and participation. Family connections, an intimate knowledge of the surrounding lands and waters, strong community bonds, an irrepressible resilience, and a great capacity for celebrating life despite hardships are part and parcel of what it means to be from Louisiana. A celebration of the state and the cultures of those who live there, Louisiana Herb Journal reflects on the value of medicinal herbs in promoting personal healing and addressing current challenges to the state's environmental and economic stability. Readers will gain a deeper recognition of the natural wealth Louisiana enjoys and the ways that our stewardship of wild plants can impact our personal health as well as the state's ecological future.