There has never been a better time to plant a tree! From their invaluable role in fighting climate change and cleaning the air of our cities, to the huge mental health benefits being around their leafy presence can bring, trees are at the very centre of both our urban and rural ecosystems. Written by Ben Raskin, head of horticulture at the Soil Association, and supported by Friends of the Earth UK, this earthy call-to-action teaches the practical how-tos alongside the most interesting insights to appreciate about the significance of magnificent trees. As movements to rewild the world around us gain pace, tree planting is being recognised as an empowering, practical and surprisingly simple action that each and every one of us can do in our backyard, park, local community, school, town or city. Sections in this book include: Trees and the World - This sectioncelebrates just how vital trees are, from how they help regulate the climate and absorb dangerous methane and nitrous oxide, to how they enrich soil, support wildlife and keep our city air clean, as well as the threats they face from climate change. Growing Your Own Tree - Tips on growing saplings from seed, cuttings or grafting, plus guidance on care and maintenance, from weeding and mulching to when to prune and pollard. Forty Best Trees - A guide to the top40 of our favourite trees, appreciated for their fruit and nuts, their ornamental value and the role they play in supporting wildlife, including a neat introduction to how to recognise trees by their leaf shape, flowers, seeds and fruit. Trees and Happiness - Research has revealed that trees are effective at reducing stress levels and improving our mental well-being, and this section digs into exactly how this happens. Whether you're a keen gardener, an avid environmental activist or simply want to learn more about these beautiful and powerful organisms, this must-read book illustrated by popular screen-printerRosanna Morris sends the powerful message that we can plant a tree & retree the world!

Glorious flower meadows were part of our life force for 2000 years or more before we swept them away last century on the altar of progress. Is there to be no more drinking from their font of well being? This book says not. Lavishly illustrated, it describes their history and, from the few remaining examples, it shows us how beautiful they are, how rich in plants and animals. It coaches us in their creation, even in small gardens, or their restoration in larger fields. It tells of the extraordinary lives of even the most ordinary denizens, little secrets that make the meadow's world go around and the convoluted links between the many plants and animals that keep everything in balance. Their stories are woven, season-by-season, into a year in the life of two meadows, a small, garden meadow and a larger old paddock. We hear of birds that plant trees, bacteria that become plant organelles, plants that drink from other plants, plants that fool or poison insects and insects that turn the tables, ants that foster butterflies, mice that navigate by compass, snails that house bees and how all of these connections, together with the flow of energy and nutrients, result in a healthy ecosystem. The book even suggests how adults and children alike can see these things for themselves. So, read this book and help your local green space to become a meadow and revel in it.

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life: supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and pepper drove the Age of Discovery, coffee beans fueled the Enlightenment and cottonseed sparked the Industrial Revolution. Seeds are fundamental objects of beauty, evolutionary wonders, and simple fascinations. Yet, despite their importance, seeds are often seen as commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. This is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. A fascinating scientific adventure, it is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.

Gardeners are inherently curious. They make note of a plant label in a botanical garden and then go home to learn more. They pick up fallen blossoms to examine them closer. They spend hours reading plant catalogues. But they are often unable to accurately name or describe their discoveries. A Botanist's Vocabulary gives gardeners and naturalists a better understanding of what they see and a way to categorize and organize the natural world in which they are so intimately involved. Through concise definitions and detailed black and white illustrations, it defines 1300 words commonly used by botanists, naturalists, and gardeners to describe plants. The terms include simple concepts like petal and sepal, some that apply only to a particular group of plants or to entire ecosystems, and others that are only visible under a microscope. The simple and accessible language and highly detailed black and white illustrations make this the perfect guide for anyone looking for a deeper appreciation of the wonderful world of plants.

A photographic masterpiece, this beautiful book is a fi tting tribute to the baobab – an extraordinary and majestic tree found principally in Madagascar, and peripherally in Africa and Australia.

The first section offers a short introduction to the classifi cation and general description of baobabs, details of their life history, biogeography, dispersal and their role in people’s lives. The second section comprises a guide to each of the eight baobab species, including a botanical description, details of their habitat, distribution and principal uses, accompanied by clear images and line drawings of the leaves, flowers, fruits and growth habit of each species.

Interesting text and lavish photographs throughout make this book irresistible for specialist botanists and lay enthusiasts alike, and it will have particular appeal for tourists too.

Mushroom guru Gary Lincoff escorts you through the cultural and culinary history of the mushroom, hunting and identifying wild mushrooms, mushroom safety, and on to preparing and serving the fungi. Stunning photographs and Lincoff's fascinating anecdotes from the field will make you an instant mycophile. Gathering edible wild food is a wonderful way to forge a connection to the Earth. Mushrooms are the ultimate local food source; they grow literally everywhere, from mountains and woodlands to urban and suburban parks to your own backyard. The Complete Mushroom Hunter, Revised will enrich your understanding of the natural world and build an appreciation for an ancient, critically relevant, and useful body of knowledge. With great expertise, Lincoff provides a complete overview of edible mushrooms: from the mushroom's earliest culinary awakening, through getting equipped for mushroom forays, to preparing and serving the fruits of the foray, wherever you live. Inside you'll find: A brief, colorful history of mushroom hunting worldwide How to get equipped for a mushroom foray A completely illustrated guide to the common wild edible mushrooms and their poisonous look-alikes, with information of psychedelic and psychotherapeutic mushrooms An illustrated guide to medicinal mushrooms Where to find your fare, and how to identify them How to prepare and serve your fungi Thirty delicious recipes Five appendices offer even more mushroom knowledge, with information on how to make mushroom artwork, mushroom cultivation, less common edible varieties, and winter hunting; plus find an essential guide to major poisonous mushrooms, symptoms of poisoning, and treatment. Whether you're just starting out with the hobby or an experienced mycophile looking to add to your collection, The Complete Mushroom Hunter, Revised is your ideal guide.

'Kimmerer blends, with deep attentiveness and musicality, science and personal insights to tell the overlooked story of the planet's oldest plants' Guardian 'Bewitching ... a masterwork ... a glittering read in its entirety' Maria Popova, Brainpickings Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses. In these interwoven essays, Robin Wall Kimmerer leads general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings. Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses clearly and artfully, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us. Drawing on her experiences as a scientist, a mother, and a Native American, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as within the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.

A compact guide featuring nearly 400 wild flowers of Kenya and northern Tanzania, grouped for ease of use according to colour. The book includes the most widespread and commonly encountered species as well as some unusual flowers found in more remote areas.

Plants range from hardy succulents to spectacular epiphytic orchids and shaggy mountain lobelias, each concisely presented with reference to key features and typical habitat. Additional notes indicate whether a given species has particular ecological, medicinal or cultural value.

World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers.

- Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text.

- Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world.

- Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents.

- First edition sold 33,000 copies.

Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.

Detailed descriptions of edible mushrooms; tips on finding, preparing, and using mushrooms; a glossary of botanical terms; color photos. Use Foraging Mushrooms as a field guide or as a delightful armchair read. No matter what you're looking for, be it the curative Heal-All or a snack, this guide will enhance your next backpacking trip or easy stroll around the garden, and may just provide some new favorites for your dinner table.

The beauty of flowers is well known, inspiring creative minds from Botticelli to Beatrix Potter. But they've also played a key part in forming the past, and may shape our future. Roses and thistles have served as symbols of monarchs, dynasties and nations. We wear poppies to remember the First World War, but it was the elderflower that treated its wounded soldiers. A rose might mend a broken heart, and sunflowers may just save our planet. At once enchanting and intriguing, The Brief Life of Flowers reveals how even the most ordinary of flowers have extraordinary stories to tell.

The perfect season-led book to help you grow the best organic vegetables, fruit and herbs in a small urban space Many of us are trying to be more mindful in our approach to eating by choosing seasonal ingredients, and growing our own fruit and vegetables can benefit our health, the environment and even our wallet. Written over a year, City Veg is the candid account of an urban grower from her productive city plot - the size of two classic 1970s VW camper vans - with all the triumphs and minor woes that come with a small, suburban location. From planning and designing the garden in January to harvesting and using home-grown produce throughout the growing season, Cinead McTernan takes you on a personal journey that will entertain experienced growers and share plenty of practical information with newbie gardeners. With helpful growing advice, harvesting guides, tips and inspiration for garden projects, City Veg also includes quick and easy recipe ideas to help make the most of your bountiful yield.

For anyone with an interest in botany or wondering what a plant name means, this well-written book will be an indispensable guide. The Illustrated Dictionary of Southern African Plant Names is aimed at keen gardeners, plant collectors, amateur and professional botanists, academics, and many other people who wish to have an answer to the question: “What do generic plant names mean?” Without a reference book to guide you, the generic names are simply unexplained ‘names’ because they are written in botanical Latin which few people understand. This easy-to-use dictionary enables readers to find out how plants have got their names. It provides a wealth of information that opens up a new world of understanding for all plant lovers. The book has nearly 5 000 entries and will include approximately 400 beautiful full-colour photographs of plants taken by top botanical photographers. This not only gives life to the book but in many cases illustrates how these names relate to the plant. Pictures have been selected from the various regions of southern African and 24 of South Africa’s leading botanists contributed to this choice with an opening page (from A–Z). Readers who wish to know more about the lives of those individuals after whom plants were named such as Watsonia, Welwitschia and hundreds more, will be surprised but delighted to find this dictionary contains more than 900 short biographies together with some 600 images, thus conserving southern African botanical history. There are fascinating descriptions of these individuals’ contributions to science, their explorations, their achievements and tragedies. The book also provides information for those readers who want to know more about the genus, such as whether the genus is an invasive species or whether the genus name has been superseded and what the replacement name is.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. They are the things we step on without noticing and the largest organisms on Earth. They are symbols of inexplicable growth and excruciating misery. They are grouped with plants, but they behave more like animals. In their inscrutability, mushrooms are wondrous organisms. The mushroom is an ordinary object whose encounters with humans are usually limited to a couple of species prepackaged at the grocery store. This book offers mushrooms as much more than a pasta ingredient or trendy coffee alternative. It presents these objects as the firmament for life as we know it, enablers of mystical traditions, menders of minds lost to depression. But it acknowledges, too, that this firmament only exists because of death and rot. Rummaging through philosophical, literary, medical , ecological , and anthropological texts only serves to confirm what the average forager already knows: that mushrooms are to be regarded with a reverence deserving of only the most powerful entities: those who create and destroy, and thrive on both. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Plants of Northern California is the complete guide to the rich and unique flora of Northern California. From lush riparian forests along the rivers and streams to oak woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, and the ephemeral pools known as vernal pools, this handy volume enables both amateur and professional to quickly and accurately identify Northern California plants. Descriptive text that includes blooming period, elevation, and habitat Species organized by color and family Plant characteristics in easy-to-understand terms Notes that include ethnobotanical uses, history, and other interesting facts Glossary of botanical terms

The Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas have had a long history of foraging, ever since the earliest white settlers came from the Appalachians and survived off of what they could find, trap, and hunt. Today, foraging remains a major activity among the outdoor community there, supported in large part by established buyers of local edibles such as ginseng, wild berries, and nuts. Foraging the Ozarks, written by local wilderness expert Bo Brown, highlights about a hundred commonly found edibles in the Interior Highlands, from ubiquitous herbs to endemic species. With sidebars, recipes, helpful tips, and toxin warnings throughout, Foraging the Ozarks is the only guidebook the Ozark outdoor enthusiast will need to pick it, cook it, and eat it.

"A stunning volume" (Time) and the most magnificent book on the world's trees published in years.

The publication of Remarkable Trees of the World took American audiences by storm. Now in a handsome paperback volume with flaps, Thomas Pakenham embarks on a five-year odyssey to most of the temperate and tropical regions of the world to photograph sixty trees of remarkable personality and presence: Dwarfs, Giants, Monuments, and Aliens; the lovingly tended midgets of Japan; the enormous strangler from India; and the 4,700-year "Old Methusalehs." American readers will be fascinated by Pakenham's first examination of North American trees, including the towering Redwoods of Sequoia and Yosemite, the gaunt Joshua Trees of Death Valley and the Bristlecone pines discovered in California's White Mountains.

Many of these trees were already famous—champions by girth, height, volume or age—while others had never previously been caught by the camera. Pakenham's five-year odyssey, sweating it out with a 30 pound Linhof camera and tripod, took him to most of the temperate and many of the tropical regions of the world. Although North American trees dominate this book, Pakenham also trekked to remote regions in Mexico, all over Europe, parts of Asia including Japan, northern and southern Africa, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand.

Remarkable Trees of the World is a lavish work that will be treasured for generations by all those who marvel at nature. Color photographs throughout.

"Spectacular...the specimens photographed here are surpassingly bizarre and varied....[An] astonishing collection."—Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Informative and inspiring."—American Gardener, January/February 2003

"Pakenham captures [the trees' character] expertly in his text and photographs....truly remarkable."—The New York Review of Books, Tim Flannery, 13 March 2003

"Lush new coffee-table book chronicles... the most visually impressive trees in the world."—Discover magazine, Maia Weinstock, 1 March 2003

Peterson

The best-selling field guides of all time

Medicinal plants are increasingly well regarded as supplements and sometimes as alternatives for prescription drugs. Steven Foster and James A. Duke have used recent advances in the study of medicinal plants and their combined experience of over 100 years to completely update the "Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. "The clear and concise text identifies the key traits, habitats, uses, and warnings for more than 530 of the most significant medicinal plants in the eastern and central United States and Canada including both native and alien species. Seven hundred plus images, the organization-by-color system, and simplified warnings make identifying medicinal plants fast and easy.

Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute

Ash is one of the most common trees in the British Isles - there are nearly as many ash trees as there are people. Perhaps this is why we take them for granted. Poets write of oak, yew, elm, willow, rarely ash. No books have been written about ash trees before. Yet ash is one of the most productive hardwoods in Europe. Its strength and elasticity are qualities our Neolithic ancestors recognised while building their tracks across the marshlands of Somerset. Ash has been used ever since, to build and warm homes, to feed livestock, to cure. Before steel it was used to make ploughs and rakes, wheel rims, boat frames, tent pegs and weapons. The human population is not alone finding sustenance and shelter in ash: woodpeckers bore nest holes into them, bats breed in veteran trees, insects, lichens, mosses and liverworts thrive on ash bark, as do hares and rabbits in winter. The first noticing of Ash Disease in 2012 brought this under-appreciated tree to our attention.In response, Oliver Rackham has written this first history and ecology of the ash tree, exploring its place in human culture, explaining Ash Disease, and arguing that globalisation is now the single greatest threat to the world's trees and forests. We cannot go on treating trees like tins of paint or cars to be traded around the world. Neither can we assume that planting a tree is, by default, a good thing. Industrial planting and irresponsible trade are already devastating the world's tree populations. The Ash Tree is Oliver Rackham's call for a radical shift in our attitude to trees - how we plant them, how we care for them after they are planted. There is no more urgent message for our times.

Since childhood, Oliver Sacks has been fascinated by ferns: an ancient class of plants able to survive and adapt in many climates. Along with a delightful group of fellow fern aficionados--mathematicians, poets, artists, and assorted botanists and birders--he embarks on an exploration of Southern Mexico, a region that is also rich in human history and culture. He muses on the origins of chocolate and mescal, pre-Columbian culture and hallucinogens, the vibrant sights and sounds of the marketplace, and the peculiar passions of botanists. What other species would comb ancient Zapotec ruins on their hands and knees, searching for a new type of fern? Combining Sacks's enthusiasm for natural history and the richness of humanity with his sharp and observant eye for detail, Oaxaca Journal is a rare treat.