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 underappreciated 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.

Washington, D.C., boasts more than three hundred species of trees from America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and City of Trees has been the authoritative guide for locating, identifying, and learning about them for more than twenty-five years. The third edition is fully revised, updated, and expanded and includes an eloquent new foreword by the "Washington Post"'s garden editor, Adrian Higgins.

In the introduction, Choukas-Bradley describes the efforts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other prominent Washingtonians who helped the nation's capital evolve into the "City of Trees," a moniker regaining popularity thanks to present-day efforts encouraging citizen participation in tree planting and maintenance.

Part 1 gives the reader a guided tour of the nation's capital, highlighting historic and rare trees of the urban canopy. Part 2 is a comprehensive, simply worded, and fully illustrated botanical guide to the magnificent trees of the nation's capital and surroundings. The guide also includes botanical keys, an illustrated glossary, exquisite pen-and-ink drawings by Polly Alexander, and color close-up photographs of flowering trees, many by the nationally acclaimed photographer Susan A. Roth.

What to look for in the new edition:

* Added locations: the FDR Memorial; the Smithsonian Institution gardens; the Tudor Place grounds; the Bishop's Garden of the Washington National Cathedral; Audubon Naturalist Society sanctuaries; and much more.

* "City of Trees" history from 1987 to 2007, including the establishment of Casey Trees and the importance of the urban canopy in the twenty-first century.

* Twice as many pages of color photographs, new species descriptions and illustrations, and added habitat information.

"Published in association with the Center for American Places"

This accessibly written and authoritative guide updates the beloved and much-used 1970s classic, Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas. In this completely reimagined book, Paul E. Hosier provides a rich, new reference guide to plant life in the coastal zone of the Carolinas for nature lovers, gardeners, landscapers, students, and community leaders. Features include: Detailed profiles of more than 200 plants, with color photographs and information about identification, value to wildlife, relationship to natural communities, propagation, and landscape use. Background on coastal plant communities, including the effects of invasive species and the benefits of using native plants in landscaping. A section on the effects of climate change on the coast and its plants. A list of natural areas and preserves open to visitors interested in observing native plants in the coastal Carolinas. A glossary that includes plant names and scientific terms. With a special emphasis on the benefits of conserving and landscaping with native plants, this guide belongs on the shelf of every resident and visitor to the coasts of the Carolinas.

ISA has developed a series of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the purpose of interpreting tree care standards and providing guidelines of practice for arborists, tree workers, and the people who employ their services. This BMP describes proper installation and maintenance of cables, braces, guys, and props that can effectively limit the movement of branches, leaders, or entire trees. It also serves as a companion publication for the American National Standard for Tree Care Operations—Tree, Shrub and Other Woody Plant Management—Standard Practices (Supplemental Support Systems). Chapters in this BMP include: Installation Tools. Cabling. Bracing. Guying Established Trees. Propping. Guying Newly Planted Trees. Glossary of Terms.

One hundred thirty-two species, subspecies, and varieties of cacti may be found in Texas. About one hundred of them occur in the states Trans-Pecos region, one of the most cactus-rich areas of the United States, but at least one kind can be found in every county of the state. This volume is an identification guide to the genera, species, and varieties of Texas cacti, with maps showing the distribution of each. Based on the comprehensive reference ""Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Regions"" (2004), by A. Michael Powell and James F. Weedin, this field guide provides briefer, less detailed treatments of the entire states species for educated general readers. More than three hundred beautiful full-color photographs of the cacti in flower and in fruit, each placed with its description in the text, highlight the book. Readers may identify cacti using color photographs of the plants, keys, distribution maps, and descriptions of the vegetative characters, flowers, and fruits. The introduction - full of details about the biology and morphology of the family Cactaceae and the uses, horticulture, and conservation of cacti - is an important reference for general readers. A glossary of cactus terms, an exhaustive list of literature, and a thorough index complete the book. This guide was designed for use by naturalists and hobbyists as well as serious students. Visitors to the national parks, state parks, and other natural areas of Texas will find it essential to identifying the cacti.

ISA has developed a series of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the purpose of interpreting tree care standards and providing guidelines of practice for arborists, tree workers, and the people who employ their services. This BMP focuses on the active process of tree planting, including site and species selection, planting practices, post-planting pruning, and early tree care. It also serves as a companion publication for the American National Standard for Tree Care Operations-Tree, Shrub and Other Woody Plant Management-Standard Practices (Planting and Transplanting). Chapters in this BMP include: Time of Planting. Nursery Stock: Types, Selection, and Handling. Preparing the Planting Hole. Planting Practices. Root Loss and New Root Growth. Redevelopment of Root Structure. Pruning. Palms. After Planting. Final Inspection. Glossary of Terms.

This field guide includes all the flora and fauna you're most likely to see in the forests of eastern North America. With 53 full-color plates and 80 color photos illustrating trees, birds, mammals, wildflowers, mushrooms, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, moths, beetles, and other insects.

This elegant and easy-to-use guide is an updated and amended revision of Lauren Brown's seminal Grasses: An Identification Guide, which was first published in 1979. While maintaining the spirit and goals of the original edition-a portable, straightforward, and user-friendly guide for naturalists and plant enthusiasts-the new edition features more than one hundred grasses, sedges, and rushes that are presented with line drawings and color photographs, concise descriptions, and details on the uses of various plants throughout history. In addition, the authors are careful to highlight the subtle differences in similar species to avoid confusion, as well as offering relevant notes on plant survival strategies, invasiveness, and how different plants fit within the broader ecological landscape. Devoid of technical jargon, this volume is an indispensable tool for those curious about the often-overlooked grasses, sedges, and rushes that surround us.

How afforestation reveals the often-concealed politics between humans and plants In Plant Life, Rosetta S. Elkin explores the procedures of afforestation, the large-scale planting of trees in otherwise treeless environments, including grasslands, prairies, and drylands. Elkin reveals that planting a tree can either be one of the ultimate offerings to thriving on this planet, or one of the most extreme perversions of human agency over it. Using three supracontinental case studies-scientific forestry in the American prairies, colonial control in Africa's Sahelian grasslands, and Chinese efforts to control and administer territory-Elkin explores the political implications of plant life as a tool of environmentalism. By exposing the human tendency to fix or solve environmental matters by exploiting other organisms, this work exposes the relationship between human and plant life, revealing that afforestation is not an ecological act: rather, it is deliberately political and distressingly social. Plant Life ultimately reveals that afforestation cannot offset deforestation, an important distinction that sheds light on current environmental trends that suggest we can plant our way out of climate change. By radicalizing what conservation protects and by framing plants in their total aliveness, Elkin shows that there are many kinds of life-not just our own-to consider when advancing environmental policy.

ISA has developed a series of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the purpose of interpreting tree care standards and providing guidelines of practice for arborists, tree workers, and the people who employ their services. This BMP is intended to serve as a guide for arborists to assess tree risk as accurately and consistently as possible, to evaluate that risk, and to recommend measures that achieve an acceptable level of risk. It also serves as a companion publication for the American National Standard for Tree Care Operations-Tree, Shrub and Other Woody Plant Management-Standard Practices (Tree Risk Assessment a. Tree Failure). Chapters in this BMP include: Risk Assessment Basics. Levels and Scope of Tree Risk Assessment. Assessing Targets, Sites, and Trees. Tree Risk Categorization. Risk Mitigation: Preventive and Remedial Actions. Risk Reporting. Tree Related Conflicts That Can Be a Source of Risk. Loads on Trees. Structural Defects and Conditions That Affect Likelihood of Failure. Response Growth. Description of Selected Types of Advanced Tree Risk Assessments.

This thorough and meticulous study, the result of nearly a quarter-century of research, examines the island biogeography of plants on continental islands in Barkley Sound, British Columbia. Invaluable both because of its geographical setting and because of the duration of the study, Plants on Islands summarizes the diversity, dynamics, and distribution of the approximately three hundred species of plants on more than two hundred islands. Martin Cody uses his extensive data set to test various aspects of island biogeographic theory. His thoughtful analysis, constrained by taxon and region, elucidates and enhances the understanding of the biogeographic patterns and dynamics. He provides an overview of the basic theory, concepts, and analytical tools of island biogeography. Also discussed are island relaxation to lower equilibrium species numbers post-isolation, plant distributions variously limited by island area, isolation and climatic differences, adaptation to local abiotic and biotic environments within islands, and the evolution of different island phenotypes. The book concludes with a valuable consideration of equilibrium concepts and of the interplay of coexistence and competition. Certain to challenge, Plants on Islands is among the first books to critically analyze the central tenets of the theory of island biogeography.

This edition of the Tree spotting series that is designed to enhance this fast-growing eco-hobby in southern Africa. The Tree-spotter can record memorable meetings with trees - be they the first for each of the 1300 species listed, thereby creating the lifer-list of the title - or be they by Habitat, Ecozone or Biome - or even by province or holiday/recreation destination. It has long been a habit of birders to gloat about 180 species in Kruger ticked off over one long weekend in summer - now Tree Spotters can compete on equal terms! Over the past decade there has been a movement in southern Africa to 'rationalise' the common names of both birds and trees. The list is easy to understand, accurate, politically sensitive in an environment of changing names and gives preference to more descriptive names, to be used by all wanting to identity and name species: Growers of indigenous trees; nurseries stocking indigenous trees; botanical gardens; departments of parks and grounds; training institutions and environmental educators; publishers of botanical listings; nature reserves; avid tree lovers.

This manual is a valuable tool for both the expert and novice risk assessor, and will quickly become one of the most referenced resources on your bookshelf. As the companion publication for the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) course, the manual provides a systematic and structured approach to tree risk assessment, including levels of assessment, target and site assessment, tree biology and mechanics, tree inspection, mitigation, and reporting. Download printable Basic Tree Risk Assessment Form. [If you plan to take the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification course please be advised that a copy of the Tree Risk Assessment Manual will be provided as part of the registration fee.]

This is the first color-illustrated guide to polypores and similar fungi specific to the eastern and central regions of the United States and Canada. Welcoming and comprehensive, it accurately presents the currently available information about polypores, emphasizes identification based primarily on macroscopic field characters, and includes observational data drawn from the authors’ extensive experience. It includes new species and genera; addresses changing nomenclature; and provides details about polypores’ biology, morphology, composition, role as parasites, interactions with various arthropods, and purported medicinal applications. The book also highlights how changes in geology, soil structure, and plant species due to factors such as continental drift and climate change have affected the evolution of polypores. Featuring more than 240 species of polypores, extensive and easy-to-use dichotomous keys, and more than 300 color illustrations and multiple maps and line drawings, it is a must-have for amateur and professional mycologists, forest service personnel, mycophagists, and anyone interested in learning more about this remarkable group of fungi.

"The authors of this introductory text are acknowledged experts on tropical American orchids with decades of combined experience of orchids in both the wild and culture. You could not find a better trio of enthusiasts and specialists to introduce you to the wonderful and occasionally bizarre world of tropical American orchids." from the Foreword by Phillip J. Cribb

Orchids of Tropical America is an entertaining, informative, and splendidly illustrated introduction to the orchid family for enthusiasts and newcomers seeking to learn about more than 120 widespread orchid genera. Joe E. Meisel, Ronald S. Kaufmann, and Franco Pupulin bring alive the riot of colors, extraordinary shapes, and varied biology and ecology of the principal orchid genera ranging from Mexico and the Caribbean to Bolivia and Brazil. Orchids, likely the most diverse family of plants on earth, reach their peak diversity in the tropical countries of the Western Hemisphere, including, for example, more than 2,500 species in Brazil and 4,000 in Ecuador. The book also highlights reserves in the American tropics where travelers can enjoy orchids in the wild.

Whether you journey abroad to see these unique plants, raise them in your home, or admire them from afar, this book offers fascinating insights into the diversity and natural history of orchids. Beyond the plant and flower descriptions, Orchids of Tropical America is packed with informative stories about the ecology and history of each genus. Pollination ecology is given in detail, with an emphasis on how floral features distinctive to the genus are linked to interaction with pollinators. This book also features information on medicinal and commercial uses, notes on the discoverers, and relevant historical data.

The easy-to-use identification system permits quick recognition of the most common orchid groups in Central and South America. Genus descriptions are given in plain language designed for a nonscientific audience but will prove highly useful to advanced botanists as well. Descriptions focus on external morphology, and great care has been taken to ensure the guide is useful in the field without reliance on microscopes or dissections. Equally valuable as a field guide, a desktop reference, or a gift, Orchids of Tropical America will make an excellent addition to any orchid lover's library.

Visit the website for this book at www.orchidsoftropicalamerica.com."