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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > Plant life: general
This beautifully illustrated volume, substantially updated for this new large-format edition, is the ultimate reference guide to more than 1300 of the most spectacular, best-loved and unusual trees across the globe, from the huge redwoods of California to the banyan trees of south-east Asia. A comprehensive introduction looks at the origins of trees, how they have evolved over time, and the ways in which they have adapted to suit the variety of terrains in which they thrive. The three directories feature trees from Temperate and Tropical America; Britain and Europe; and Africa, Asia and Australasia. Each entry is accompanied by a hand-painted illustration, and includes identification details such as bark texture; leaf shape and size; flowering time; average height; and overall tree shape. It is an authoritative volume that will form a vital part of every family's natural history library.
Colin Tudge's The Secret Life of Trees: How they Live and Why they Matter explores the hidden role of trees in our everyday lives - and how our future survival depends on them. What is a tree? As this celebration of the trees shows, they are our countryside; our ancestors descended from them; they gave us air to breathe. Yet while the stories of trees are as plentiful as leaves in a forest, they are rarely told. Here, Colin Tudge travels from his own back garden round the world to explore the beauty, variety and ingenuity of trees everywhere: from how they live so long to how they talk to each other and why they came to exist in the first place. Lyrical and evocative, this book will make everyone fall in love with the trees around them. 'A love-letter to trees' Financial Times 'One of those books you want everyone to have already read' Sunday Telegraph 'Wonderful, invaluable and timely. Tudge is as illuminating a guide as one could wish for' Daily Mail 'Everyone interested in the natural world will enjoy The Secret Life of Trees. I found myself reading out whole chunks to friends' The Times Books of the Year Colin Tudge started his first tree nursery in his garden aged 11, marking his life-long interest in trees. Always interested in plants and animals, he studied zoology at Cambridge and then began writing about science, first as features editor at the New Scientist and then as a documentary maker for the BBC. Now a full-time writer, he is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. His books include The Variety of Life and So Shall We Reap.
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.
Filled with beautiful color photographs, "Divine Mushrooms and Fungi" is a must-have for anyone who wants to step into the magic mushroom field of ethnomycology. With detailed information on how to distinguish magic mushrooms from potentially dangerous lookalikes, this guide also features a detailed history of the ritual use of magic mushrooms among pre-Columbian inhabitants of the New World and the evolution of the use of psychedelic fungi from sacred rituals to today's recreational use. Common epithets used for naming mushrooms around the world are accompanied by photographs and descriptions of both magic mushrooms and their poisonous lookalikes. An ideal companion for mushroom-gathering forays, "Divine Mushrooms and Fungi" provides readers with the sacred knowledge that can lead to a visionary experience.
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER,THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES 'A simultaneously stimulating and soothing blend of nature writing and science ... Strongly encourages tree hugging for our own, human sake' Guardian Summer Reads 2021 A powerful return to the forest, where trees have heartbeats and roots are like brains that extend underground. Where the colour green calms us, and the forest sharpens our senses. In The Heartbeat of Trees, renowned forester Peter Wohlleben draws on new scientific discoveries to show how humans are deeply connected to the natural world. In an era of climate change, many of us fear we've lost our connection to nature, but Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest remain alive and intact. We just have to know where to look. Drawing on science and cutting-edge research, The Heartbeat of Trees reveals the profound interactions humans can have with nature, exploring: the language of the forest the consciousness of plants and the eroding boundary between flora and fauna A perfect book to take with you into the woods, The Heartbeat of Trees shares how to see, feel, smell, hear, and even taste the forest. Peter Wohlleben, renowned for his ability to write about trees in an engaging and moving way, reveals a wondrous cosmos where humans are a part of nature, and where conservation and environmental activism is not just about saving trees, it's about saving ourselves, too.
RHS Staff Pick of the Year 2021 Spectator Gardening Book of the year 2021 'A refreshingly insightful history of plant introductions.' - Roy Lancaster Travel the world with extraordinary tales of the botanical discoveries that have shaped empires, built (and destroyed) economies, revolutionised medicine and advanced our understanding of science. Circling the globe from Australia's Botany Bay to the Tibetan plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this book presents an incredible cast of characters - dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the 'Green Samurai' Mikinori Ogisu and the intrepid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian - the first woman known to have made a living from science. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 botanical artworks from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this absorbing book tells the stories of how plants have travelled across the world - from the missions of the Pharaohs right up to 21st century seed-banks and the many new and endangered species being named every year. *** THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW is a world-famous research organisation and a major international visitor attraction. It harnesses the power of its science, the rich diversity of its gardens and collections to unearth why plants and fungi matter to everyone. Its aspiration is to end the extinction crisis and help create a world where nature and biodiversity are protected, valued and managed sustainably.
“Unlike the standard nature guides that explain how to recognize common animals, Nature stresses the web of interrelationships that link the regional flora and fauna. This affectionate examination of some of North America’s most spectacular surviving old-growth forests will delight backpackers and armchair naturalists.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Everything you ever wanted to know about the flora and fauna of Southeast Alaska is contained in the third edition of this lively field guide to the natural world, from bears to banana slugs, mountains to murrelets. The authors, who are both Alaskan residents and biologists, combine scientific research with personal experiences to make a definitive field guide for residents of or visitors to Southeast Alaska. The unique features of the book include: In-depth information about how wildlife coexists with the environment Detailed discussions of mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, fungi, and plants Detailed map of wilderness areas in Southeast Alaska More than 200 black-and-white illustrations A bibliography, list of common and scientific names, and an index New to this edition: More than 100 new illustrations, many never before published, as well as new maps and photos Major expansion of sections on geology, old-growth forests, marine mammals, and amphibians Fifty-two new sidebars—written in the first person to give the text a more personal touch—that describe recent findings or experiences. Sweeping updates and elaborations to chapter narratives—often thanks to technology unknown in 1992. In-depth guide to Southeast Alaska’s flora and fauna; more than an identification manual, Nature explores how the species and habitats encountered in the woods and waters of Southeast Alaska fit into the bigger picture.
The Royal Horticultural Society's The Rose tells the story of the world's favourite flower through 40 of the most popular and interesting species and hybrids. Arranged chronologically, The Rose brings to life the arrival of each flower in European gardens, detailing the history of the layout of rose gardens and the role that roses play in the 'language of flowers'. From the first recorded reference to a rose over 7,000 years ago, these extraordinary flowers have captivated botanists, artists, poets, perfumers and gardeners. A symbol of love and patriotism, a scent and flavour synonymous with the East, and the jewel in the crown of ornamental gardens, roses in all their forms bear a special meaning that spans centuries and crosses oceans. Extraordinary botanical illustrations and extracts from classic texts held in the Royal Horticultural society's world-famous Lindley Library, such as Redoute's Les Roses, Henry Andrew's Roses, Mary Lawrence's Selection of Roses and Victor Paquet's Choix des Plus Belles Roses, complete this authoritative celebration.
In Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest, Mark Turner and Ellen Kuhlman cover 568 species of woody plants that can be found in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and northern California. The comprehensive field guides features introductory chapters on the native landscape and plant entries that detail the family, scientific and common name, flowering seasons, and size. Each entry includes color photographs of the plant s habitat and distinguishing characteristics and a range map. Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest is for hikers, nature lovers, plant geeks, and anyone who wants to know more about, and be able to identify, the many plants of the Pacific Northwest."
"A volume for a lifetime" is how The New Yorker described the first of Donald Culross Peatie's two books about American trees published in the 1950s. In this one-volume edition, modern readers are introduced to one of the best nature writers of the last century. As we read Peattie's eloquent and entertaining accounts of American trees, we catch glimpses of our country's history and past daily life that no textbook could ever illuminate so vividly. Here you'll learn about everything from how a species was discovered to the part it played in our country's history. Pioneers often stabled an animal in the hollow heart of an old sycamore, and the whole family might live there until they could build a log cabin. The tuliptree, the tallest native hardwood, is easier to work than most softwood trees; Daniel Boone carved a sixty-foot canoe from one tree to carry his family from Kentucky into Spanish territory. In the days before the Revolution, the British and the colonists waged an undeclared war over New England's white pines, which made the best tall masts for fighting ships. It's fascinating to learn about the commercial uses of various woods -- for paper, fine furniture, fence posts, matchsticks, house framing, airplane wings, and dozens of other preplastic uses. But we cannot read this book without the occasional lump in our throats. The American elm was still alive when Peattie wrote, but as we read his account today we can see what caused its demise. Audubon's portrait of a pair of loving passenger pigeons in an American beech is considered by many to be his greatest painting. It certainly touched the poet in Donald Culross Peattie as he depicted the extinction of the passenger pigeon when the beech forest was destroyed. A Natural History of North American Trees gives us a picture of life in America from its earliest days to the middle of the last century. The information is always interesting, though often heartbreaking. While Peattie looks for the better side of man's nature, he reports sorrowfully on the greed and waste that have doomed so much of America's virgin forest.
This large-format poster book lets you decorate your walls with images from Katie Scott's Botanicum. Featuring plantlife of all kinds, from right around the world, it's a stunning celebration of all things botanical.
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.
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.
Pascal Baudar is a culinary visionary...I am in awe of this book. Get ready to be inspired. Sandor Ellix Katz, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Art of Fermentation The perfect DIY guide to make your own fermented hot sauce, wild green pesto, plant-based cheese and so much more! Professional forager Pascal Baudar expanded the wild food frontier with his path breaking works, The New Wildcrafted Cuisine and The Wildcrafting Brewer. Now the acclaimed "culinary alchemist" combines his curiosity, research and in-depth understanding of terroir to put forth recipes that explore root-to-stem fermentation of wild ingredients in his latest book on foraging. In Wildcrafted Fermentation, Pascal Baudar describes in detail how to create rich, flavourful foods at home from the wild and cultivated plants in your local area or garden. Baudar includes more than 100 easy-to-follow, plant-based, vegan-friendly recipes: Fennel sauerkraut Wild food kimchi A section on fermenting mushrooms Fermented leaf chips Fermented wild greens pesto Fermented hot sauce Dehydrated spice blends Plant-based cheeses and so much more! The recipes are accompanied by step-by-step photos illustrating foraging, preparation and fermentation techniques for both wild and cultivated plants. For foodies, foragers, fermentation enthusiasts and adventurous home cooks alike, Wildcrafted Fermentation is an indispensable field-to-kitchen guide to crafting cuisine unique to you and your environment.
An exquisite, lovingly crafted meditation on plants, trees, and our place in the natural world, in the tradition of Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek "Sumana Roy has written-grown-a radiant and wondrous book."-Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot "Beautiful. . . . Roy weaves together science, nature, personal narrative, literature, sociology, and more to keep the reader turning pages-and to turn us all into tree-lovers."-Kateri Kramer, The Rumpus A Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide 2021 selection "I was tired of speed. I wanted to live to tree time." So writes Sumana Roy at the start of How I Became a Tree, her captivating, adventurous, and self-reflective vision of what it means to be human in the natural world. Drawn to trees' wisdom, their nonviolent way of being, their ability to cope with loneliness and pain, Roy movingly explores the lessons that writers, painters, photographers, scientists, and spiritual figures have gleaned through their engagement with trees-from Rabindranath Tagore to Tomas Transtroemer, Ovid to Octavio Paz, William Shakespeare to Margaret Atwood. Her stunning meditations on forests, plant life, time, self, and the exhaustion of being human evoke the spacious, relaxed rhythms of the trees themselves. Hailed upon its original publication in India as "a love song to plants and trees" and "an ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient," How I Became a Tree blends literary history, theology, philosophy, botany, and more, and ultimately prompts readers to slow down and to imagine a reenchanted world in which humans live more like trees.
This fun-filled outdoor adventure handbook is packed with unique ideas to help kids discover the great outdoors and get closer to nature. Created with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK's leading gardening charity, this pocket-sized guide teached kids about different habitats. This gorgeously illustrated handbook is bursting with fun activities, top tips and nature facts to help inspire kids to explore the amazing world around them. Learn how to choose a campsite. Grow your own daffodils. Learn how to navigate using the night sky. Each page is packed with original ideas to help kids discover and explore plants and wildlife, with exciting activities for different habitats.
An enticing illustrated look at pollination, one of the most astonishing marvels of the natural world Pollination is essential to the survival of most plants on Earth. Some plants rely on the wind to transport pollen from one flower to another. Others employ an array of ingenious strategies to attract and exploit pollinators, whether they be insects, birds, or mammals. This beautifully illustrated book provides an unprecedented look at the wonders of pollination biology, drawing on the latest science to explain the extraordinarily complex relationship between plant and pollinator, and revealing why pollination is vital for healthy ecosystems and a healthy planet. Timothy Walker offers an engaging introduction to pollination biology and explores the many different tactics of plant reproduction. He shows how wind and water can be effective yet wildly unpredictable means of pollination, and describes the intimate interactions of pollinating plants with bees and butterflies, beetles and birds, and lizards and bats. Walker explores how plants entice pollinators using scents, colors, and shapes, and how plants rely on rewards as well as trickery to attract animals. He sheds light on the important role of pollination in ecology, evolution, and agriculture, and discusses why habitat management, species recovery programs, and other conservation efforts are more critical now than ever. Featuring hundreds of color photos and illustrations, Pollination is suitable for undergraduate study and is an essential resource for naturalists, horticulturalists, and backyard gardeners.
Sasol Eerste Veldgids tot Bome van Suider-Afrika bied n fassinerende blik op die bome van die subkontinent. Met behulp van volkleurfoto's en verspreidingskaarte, asook maklik leesbare teks, sal die beginner en ontluikende natuurliefhebber die meer algemene bome in Suider-Afrika kan identifiseer, kan vasstel waar hulle groei, en meer te wete kom oor hul unieke eienskappe.
'Lyrical and beautiful and feels like a haven in a cynical world - exactly the book we all need to read right now' Catherine Simpson, author of One Body: A Retrospective, When I Had A Little Sister and Truestory 'A book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat and small and fearful' Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure For Sleep An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothers is a story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do. At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett was looking forward to new motherhood and all that was to come. But when the telephone rang, the news she received changed everything. Her eldest sister had died in a canoeing accident. Five years later, struggling with grief, the demands of being a parent-carer for her young son, and the impact of deeper austerity, life feels very different to the future she had imagined. A move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria offers Victoria and her family a chance to rebuild their lives. Constructed over an industrial site, at first the barren ground seems an unlikely place to sow the seeds of a new life. She and her son set about transforming the rubble around them into a wild apothecary garden. Daisy, for resilience. Dandelion, for strength against adversity. Red campion, to ward off loneliness. Sow thistle, to lift melancholy. Borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times. Stone by stone, seed by seed, All My Wild Mothers is the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. 'An exciting new voice in nature writing' Cal Flyn, Sunday Times Writer of the Year, and author of Islands of Abandonment and Thicker Than Water
"Wild Edible Mushrooms "aids mushroom hunters and armchair naturalists alike with finding, harvesting, preparing, and enjoying North American wild mushrooms. Detailed descriptions and color photos of forty edible mushrooms--including scientific and common names, habitat, odor, taste, fruiting time, and more--are accompanied by more than 100 mushroom recipes. Hope Miller's introduction includes reasons to make mushrooms part of one's diet (nutrients, medicinal, taste, cost), cautions (allergies and toxins), tips on caring for and preparing mushrooms (drying, freezing, preserving, canning, pickling), and illustrations to help identify different parts of each mushroom.
Brimming with engaging writing and stirring photography, Forest is an
ode to the natural world and a celebration of the relationship between
humans and trees.
"A literary work with a life all its own, and without
exaggeration, it is a masterpiece. . . . Far from being a simple
narrative, the book discusses the incredible contribution each tree
makes to the planet, where and how to plant them, and what
environment they are most complementary to." "In prose as rich as the forest itself, Diana Beresford-Kroeger
sees trees for all their attributes---as providers of clean air,
clean water, food, shelter, and beauty---and places them squarely
at the center of a complex web of nature that is crucial to all
species including man." Nothing on earth compares to the Boreal forest to maintain life on this planet. The vast primeval forest stretches across the northern regions of the world, from northern Canada and Alaska to northern Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. Boreal species can be found in cooler temperate climates everywhere, including Michigan and other cool areas of the United States, and some outliers are even found in the tropics. The circumpolar runoff from the Boreal enriches the seas with nutrients in the spring. The evergreens of the Boreal act as a passive ground coolant. And the needles of the evergreens and the trichomal hairs of the deciduous trees comb the air free of harmful minute particulate pollution. "Arboretum Borealis" does for the northern forests of the world what Arboretum America did for the forests of North America. Diana Beresford-Kroeger further describes how each Boreal tree group relates to its natural environment and how these specific trees can be used to promote health or to counteract the effects of pollution and global warming. "Arboretum Borealis" reveals the fascinating history of these trees in Native American culture, including their medicinal uses. Finally, Beresford-Kroeger offers practical design ideas and tips---where to plant these trees, what season they look best in, and what native plants complement them. Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist; medical and agricultural researcher; lecturer; and self-defined "renegade scientist" in the fields of classical botany, medical biochemistry, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry. She is the author of "Arboretum America" and lives in Ontario, Canada. Cover image by Christian H. Kroeger |
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